Last week was a cause for much celebration at Kavanagh College and the opportunity to live our special character as a faith-based community through our Teacher Only Day Mass with a full staff, the welcoming of our new students by way of a mihi whakatau, and our Opening Mass on Friday when we commissioned our Head Students and Prefects of 2021. On two of those occasions, we heard the Gospel reading from Matthew which talks about ‘shining our light’ (you can be reminded of the verse below). This sums up our theme for this year and creates a strong foundation for our new strategic direction which aims for excellence in all areas of our college lives – staff and students.

Our four goals for the next few years are:

· A Culture of Excellence in a Climate of Faith and Pastoral Care

· A Curriculum that is Fit for Purpose

· Excellence in Learning and Teaching

· Students and Staff Flourish through Wellbeing priorities

Our goal is that everyone in our college – students and staff – use their gifts fully; bring their best selves to school every day, and aim high in all pursuits, be that academic, cultural or sports. The job that the Board and I will do is to provide the environment, systems and structures to allow these things to happen.

Some of these things have already begun. Our ‘curriculum fit for purpose’ is underway in the year 7-9 area and I have enjoyed my visits into the Mercy block classrooms where there is a real sense of purpose, engagement, and enjoyment in the learning that is taking place. This afternoon’s ‘Year 7-9 Meet the Teacher’ opportunity will be a chance to have a talk with your children’s teachers and visit their classrooms to see what has been happening in the last few days.

The environment at Kavanagh College must have been working well last year because we have the NCEA, UE and Scholarship results to show this! We received our best results in the last five years and although 2020 had an impact on senior school learning across New Zealand, Kavanagh College experienced a significant lift across the board and particularly in NCEA Levels 1, 3 and in our UE results. Our results across every level of NCEA and UE were ahead of national decile 8-10 data, with highlights being our boys at Level 1, and boys at UE level surpassing the national data for boys in decile 8-10 schools by a huge 23% and 22% respectively.

We were also thrilled to learn that our students gained eight scholarships, with two outstanding scholarships, in last year’s scholarship exams. Again, this is an improvement on previous years. Well done to all our students and the staff who worked hard to make these rewards happen. Have a look at our articles in the newsletter for more details.

We have had a good start to the year, reflecting our theme ‘Striving to be the best version of ourselves’ – let’s keep up the great work.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house.
Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”

Matthew 5:13-16

Ngā mihi