At Waikato Diocesan School for Girls, we understand that wellbeing and learning are inseparable. Students who feel safe, known, and supported are more confident in their learning, more willing to take positive risks, and more resilient when challenges arise. Central to this is our culture of care, which underpins everything we do.
While the Ministry provides funding for essential educational services, it is through your contributions that we are able to provide additional staffing and specialised expertise to further support our girls.
Located in our Wellness Centre are a full-time registered nurse, Helen Barns-Graham, and two guidance counsellors, Sarah Peters and Dahna Banks. These professionals are available to offer timely support whenever a student needs it. While not every girl will personally require these services, knowing they are available provides reassurance for students and families alike.
Helen Barns-Graham
Sarah Peters and Dahna Banks
Our wellbeing specialists work alongside, and enhance our strong pastoral framework, which includes Form Teachers, Deans, and both our International and Boarding teams, with oversight from our Associate Principal, Mrs Sonja Maree. Together, they ensure that every student is known, supported, and guided throughout her time at Waikato Dio. Because of your support, our pastoral leaders and boarding staff have greater capacity to build meaningful relationships with students. They are able to spend time noticing when something is not quite right, celebrating successes, and helping girls navigate the complexities of adolescence with care and guidance.
Importantly, our wellbeing team are highly experienced professionals who regularly work in partnership with external specialists when additional support is needed. This may include psychologists, dietitians, and other practitioners. Through these relationships, we are able to provide a truly wraparound approach to student care, ensuring that each young woman receives the right support at the right time.
By investing in pastoral care, medical support, guidance, and wellbeing programmes, you help ensure that every young woman has access to the assistance and advice she needs; precisely when she needs it.
Perhaps most importantly, your support helps safeguard the wellbeing of every girl in our community. While your daughter may not personally need to access all of these services, your contribution helps ensure that support is there for her friends and peers should they need it.
What greater gift could there be than knowing that every girl at Waikato Diocesan has a full wrap around framework to ensure that she is supported to thrive, grow, and flourish – mentally, physically, and academically.
As educator and author Brené Brown reminds us:
“Connection is why we’re here; it is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives.”
Angee Robertson