Opening of St Kentigern Preschool

Rau rangatira mā, e nga tamariki o tēnei kura, e huihui nei, tēnei aku mihi nui ki a koutou, kia ora tātou katoa.

I acknowledge

Desley Simpson (Deputy Mayor)
Mark Conelly (Chair of the Trust Board)
Kevin Morris (CEO St Kentigern)
Nikki Joyce (Principal)
Right Reverend Hamish Galloway

I am here today because much of my career has been focussed on the health and wellbeing of children, and I know pre-school years are a key opportunity in human development. In their book, “The Origins of You”, by Belsky, Caspi, Moffit and Poulton (2020), they show that science teaches us clearly that the early years of our childhood shapes our later life.

High quality early childhood education is an important vehicle for providing children with experiences, joy and learning that set them up for life.

Now I am going to focus my attention on the special youngest people here today.

You have been so good and patient, and I promise I won’t speak for long.

What an exciting day for you! Thank you for inviting me to see your new building.

Some of you might be wondering who I actually am – and what my job is.

Have any of you heard of King Charles III?

King Charles III is the King of England – and he is also the King of New Zealand.

He lives in England – and my job as Governor-General is to do his work for him in New Zealand.

I meet all kinds of important people in my job, but the best bit is meeting young New Zealanders like you.

I have two grandchildren and I know how important it is to have a happy time at school.

I am really looking forward to seeing your classrooms and some of the things you have made.

I have brought some special bookmarks with me that I will leave for you. They show you the house I live in while I am Governor-General called Government House.

When King Charles and Prince William come to New Zealand, they will stay at Government House too.

Government House belongs to everyone in New Zealand. Anyone can visit it and we love seeing you. There is a Government House in Auckland, but our Visitor Centre where schools visit, is Government House in Wellington.

The bookmark tells you how to visit the house when you come to Wellington – or you can visit it from here, by going online.

I hope your time at St Kentigern will be very special.

I hope you learn lots, have fun and enjoy being with your friends.

And when you grow up, I hope you will remember what this school teaches you about being good and kind to other people and taking good care of the world around you.

No reira, nga mihi mahana ki a koutou katoa.