Six-pack of girl power

A diverse female cohort with cogent ambitions to enrich their college which values loyalty and honour.

Freya Roberts, Joelle Noar, Maya Ricciardi and Pagin Johansen are the Nayland College head students for 2025 with Anahera Karsten and Lucia Banks banding together in the roles of kaitaunaki to manifest the college’s Māori culture.

The six, along with their assignments and other school activities, are also spearheading the college committees with Lucia and Anahera in charge of the cultural committee, Pagin environmental, Maya arts and academics, Joelle well-being, and Freya sports.

All wāhine have been exemplary in areas both in and outside the college grounds since Year 9 and were equally ecstatic to be elected to leadership roles for their final year.

“Nayland is very warm and welcoming, and we always have those extra steps to make sure everyone’s included, and that’s what makes me proud,” Pagin says. “Everyone comes from different backgrounds and experiences, and we do a lot of programmes where senior students work with junior students, teachers work with different classes, and we have our houses and clubs, which I think makes us a stronger community,” Joelle says.

Freya, Joelle, Maya and Pagin’s duties as head students are mostly organising events, but they also want to emulate the work of their predecessors to make a lasting impact.

“We have a brand-new, amazing library, and I was thinking of maybe organising to get some student artwork put up to bring more life and student expression, and maybe even some Māori flax designs, I think that would be really cool,” Maya says.

“I want to really focus on helping improve students’ well-being… later on during exam season, I want to run study planner workshops, and organise some mental health guest speakers, because mental health is a big problem in teenagers,” Joelle says.

Anahera and Lucia’s kaitaunaki roles are centred within the college’s tikanga Māori focused whānau tutor class, Pūaha Te Tai and the cultural committee.

Their first port of call is teaching the new entrants the college haka before organising this year’s Pasifika week and teaching waiata which has its origins in Te Tauihu. “This is so we can get that connection to our whakapapa and our whenua, and know the story behind where we are and where our school is,” Lucia says.

“Especially because our school is on Ngāti Koata land, teaching the school heaps of songs and haka from Ngāti Koata and the other iwi of Te Tauihu so there is that connection and we have that experience, so we’re not freaking out at events.”