From the Principal's Desk

Mr Scott Thelning —

Kia ora ki te whanau o te Cathedral Grammar 

I am sure that through either our communication with you or through the media, you will now know that Bishop Victoria has resigned after 10 years faithful service to our Diocese, and our city as a whole. Bishop Victoria, our first woman bishop and the Warden of our school, has led and guided the Diocese through a most challenging time, one that brought out emotions from across the region as decisions were made regarding the future of the ChristChurch Cathedral. We thank Bishop Victoria for her measured approach through this demanding time while balancing 'business as usual' across the Diocese, her care and concern for our school in her role as Warden, for leading us in prayer at whole school services at the Transitional Cathedral and for her ongoing prayers for us as a school and a school community. We wish her all the very best with what it is God calls her to do. Here is a link to Bishop Victoria's communication to the Diocese  https://mailchi.mp/54affb22979d/special-e-life-22-december-1461745

Last week we sent you an email from the Board which provided you with a high level summary of the latest Board meeting. Improving communication is a part of one of our strategic goals and these summaries from this point forward, will be included in Grammar Notes. (The last one was sent out as an email, so we could get it to you in a timely manner.) It is hoped you find these useful, informative and provide another avenue for you to keep abreast of developments across the school. A list of current Board members is on both our website and GrammarNet, and we will soon have a photo and a short biography to add for each member. 

It is important that we as staff, and you as parents have a strong partnership that places your child at the heart of what we do and how we communicate. Our goal is to nurture, know and grow your child each and every day and provide you with quality information in a timely and open manner. For this to be successful we all must be transparent, honest, open minded, respectful and be prepared to speak with the right person at the right time. Quality conversations based around mutual trust and respect will ensure clarity and understanding is front and centre, and will help avoid angst, confusion and misinformation. 

In general terms, the first person you should address this with is the teacher concerned. Should it not be resolved at this point, then the next person for you to take your concern or questions to is the Head of Department. This is Mrs Avery as Head of the Pre-School, Mrs Whalley as the Dean of the Junior School, Ms McCormack as the Dean of the Girls’ School and Mr Lean-Massey as the Dean of the Boys’ School. These people will always communicate with one of the Deputy Principals regarding all concerns raised at this level. Should the matter not be resolved to your satisfaction at this level, then you can raise the issue with me, where in most cases I will arrange a meeting with you, the teacher concerned and the Head of Department. 

Please do not be offended if  Ms Church, Mr Bertie, Mrs Brobyn or I direct you back to the teacher concerned or the Head of Department. We are just following our processes. If we are to truly have wonderful communication across our school we all need to play our role in ensuring it is consistently applied. I urge you to please make contact with our teachers as soon as you have any queries or concerns so we can collaboratively set about addressing these and allay any worries as soon as possible. It is important that you keep as your concern your child and what is happening for them, and not get involved in wider discussions about others. Experience has taught me that it is very difficult to stop stories and whispers being generated in groups across schools. However that does not make it right or something we as a community should accept. Experience has also taught me that there are times when these stories and whispers are not accurate and/or can get turned into something bigger than it needs to be or would have been if the right communication processes were followed. Please play your role by following our processes. We very much value strong and open communication.

Congratulations to all of the pupils who were recently commissioned as members of the Junior Choir, Boys’ Chapel Choir and Girls’ Chapel Choir. Choral singing is at the very foundation of our school and it is wonderful to see so many pupils continuing this legacy and doing this so well. Thank you to those parents who attended this service. It is always wonderful to have you participate in this special part of our school.  

We experienced a very good Open Day last week with attendance on par with last year and some positive changes to the structure of what we offer on the day. This time we held it in the Chapel/Hall and had the string ensemble play as guests arrived followed by the choristers opening up proceedings with 3 songs. We then had Isabel Marsh and Joshua Padyachee, both Y3 pupils, share what they love about our school - and they were both fantastic! They were followed by Head Girl, Nicole Vance and Head Boy, James Lange, and these two also showed why they were selected in their roles - superb. All pupils involved from those mentioned to those who greeted our guests and supported the guided tours were once again, truly great ambassadors for our school.  Feedback received by the visiting families was very positive. They were very pleased with what they heard and saw, and in particular, some have completed enrolment forms already! Thank you to those who encouraged people to come along. 

There are many wonderful events and activities happening across our school. Congratulations to everyone involved and keep the buzz going!

Have a great fortnight.

Nga mihi,
Scott