For the annual Blues Leadership Programme, ten of our Year 12 rangatahi were selected to participate in a series of four workshops over four weeks to develop their leadership skills. This year, our young leaders’ trips spanned from 4 – 26 May 2026 and gathered with various other schools at the Blues Rugby HQ.
During the first session, our rangatahi toured around the Blues HQ, receiving an introduction into what was to come, socialising with other schools while learning about the importance of self-leadership across youth. This experience was further enhanced in our second session, where students were challenged to work in groups to formulate an impromptu speech!
In our third session, there were various passionate speakers from the Blues HQ, such as Karl Budge, the Blues Rugby CEO, who talked about the journey from youth into their leadership roles at the Blues. These discussions prompted us to think about our careers and how our personal traits/personalities might align with what we wanted to do in the future. We learned valuable lessons of being open-minded when approaching potential careers, as many of the speakers’ degrees and initial paths were vastly different from where they landed.
Finally, our fourth session was centred on personal well-being and effective goal setting, where we explored frameworks such as Te Whare Tapa Whā and collaborated in navigating challenges through games. These activities assessed our communication skills and tested the bonds/trust formed between our peers.
To conclude the Blues Leadership Programme, we reconvened on 18 August 2026 to check in with our personal development and leadership growth! Thank you to the PE department for being such incredible facilitators for this event.
