Bonjour, Kia Ora, Talofa lava, Mālō e lelei, G’day from New Zealand.

We are very excited to be a part of this Shared Histories project. We are year 12 History students from Auckland, New Zealand and our teachers are Mr Coutts and Ms Stone (we have two history classes at this level). Year 12 is the second last year at high school and many of us hope to go to university when we leave.

Baradene College of the Sacred Heart is a special character high school. We are a state school that provides a catholic education. There are girls aged 11-18 at this school which is about seven years of schooling. We have girls of all cultural backgrounds including European, Pasifika, Maori and Asian backgrounds and we have exchange students from countries around the world. Our school has a connection with France because our school is a part of the Society of the Sacred Heart, which was founded by a French woman named Saint Madeleine Sophie Barat. Our main building, 'Duchesne', was inspired by French/gothic architecture and is still in use today.

We have 6 school house-groups which come together to compete in various activities and contests and one of these is called ‘Amiens’, which is named after the French town where the first Sacred Heart school was established. Within our two history classes, we do have some French speaking students and students who have studied French previously, however a lot of us unfortunately do not speak French. 

We live in Auckland which is the largest city in New Zealand. It is built on about 50 dormant volcanoes and is on an isthmus between the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean. The Māori name for the city is Tāmaki Makaurau which means ‘Place of a Thousand Lovers’. The city has a population of about 1.5 million and students at our school live all around the Auckland City region. We are really looking forward to further communication and hosting some students from Lycée professionnel Gay Lussac. À bientôt! 

By Louise Piggin and Lauren White (Year 12 History Students at Baradene College)