Last Friday a funeral service was held for Simon Norris. The school closed from from lunchtime so Simon's friends, classmates and staff could have the opportunity to attend the funeral. Two of our teachers - Jana Roos and Ciaran Tangney - spoke at Simon's service, and our school community thanks them for this and we would like to share their beautiful words with you. 

Ms Roos: Ciaran and I were fortunate enough to teach Simon last year, Ciaran for Science and Qwest, and me as his mentor teacher, English teacher and for Qwest. We were lucky to get to know him well. I went back and looked at Simon’s top strengths, and the qualities and values we saw him express at school. His third top strength was Curiosity, or taking an interest in ongoing experience for its own sake; finding subjects and topics fascinating;exploring and discovering.

Mr Tangney: Simon showed this in abundance in Science. So much so, that it sometimes got him into trouble! His curiosity made him put a thermometer under a bunsen flame and then under a cold tap. He discovered that's a sure fire way to explode the glass! A cheeky smile and “sorry sir” usually got him off the hook. It was hard to get angry at Simon, as he always took responsibility for his actions. Simon was having a great start to the year at Greymouth High School and I have no doubt that his curiosity and cheekiness would have led him to be a vibrant and successful student in our 10E class.

His 2nd top strength is Love, or valuing close relations with others, in particular those in which sharing and caring are reciprocated; being close to people. Here are some messages from his classmates: “Simon would always bring in his basketball for the bois at break. Would often cover for us if we got in trouble. In PE we covered his basketball in soap and instead of getting angry he chased us around with it and had a laugh. Thinking of these stories reminds me how easy it was to get along with Simon. He was also always respectful to me. I will miss having such a caring, compassionate student in my science class this year. We will miss you Simon.

Ms Roos: Simon’s top strength was gratitude. He had great awareness of everything he had to be thankful for in his life. I say with confidence that he was grateful for all of you, and the connections he had with you. He appreciated his family. He was grateful for his friends.

Although these were Simon’s top strengths, they were not the only qualities we saw him express. I saw Simon be perceptive, supportive, kind, and developing his judgement and leadership skills. I am grateful to have known him, and I thank God that I had the chance to have a good relationship with Simon, and that I could be what was hopefully a positive note in his life. I know we are all a little poorer for not getting to know the young man he would have grown into.

Aroha mai, aroha atu