It's school out for William Colenso College head girl Tala Utumapu, principal Daniel Murfitt and a group of staff and board representatives as they head for the red carpet in Auckland and a ceremony which could tonight see the Napier school named one of the best in the country.
Colenso is a finalist in three of the four categories of the Prime Minister's education excellence awards, and the overall award in the ceremonies attended by Prime Minister Bill English and Minister of Education Nikki Kaye in the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
It's one of four schools vying for honours in each of the categories of excellence in Leading, Teaching and Learning, and Governing.
But Mr Murfitt, who arrived nine years ago and has overseen a new era of educational innovation and now well-recognised positive reversals in student achievement rates, particularly among Maori pupils, is happy enough for the school to have just reached the finals.
"It's much bigger than I would have thought," Mr Murfitt said. "Potentially we're up for four awards, we'd be happy if we won just one, but we've already come a long way."