Talofa, Malo, Tena Koutou Katoa

Thank you to everyone who attended the Academic Blues ceremony last night at Toitu. It is always a special occasion and nice to celebrate success as a community. We are very proud of our students and it was great to see a number of last years Year 13 cohort all grown up and out in the big wide world. Special thanks to Dr Trudy Sullivan who gave an excellent address with many wisdom's from her experience. I liked her statement that the road to success, academic or otherwise,  is not always linear but may take various pathways over the course of one's life. It proves the old adage about the journey being as important as the destination.

On Tuesday I attended a meeting at the Otago Polytechnic to discuss the current government proposal to merge all of that sector into one national organisation. It is clear that a national shake-up is necessary however past history and experience suggests that things run out of Wellington are seldom efficient or respond to the needs of the community in a timely fashion. Otago Polytech in the last decade has been a shining light in the vocational courses area as well as high end specialist degrees. It has complemented the University of Otago beautifully and contributed to Otago and New Zealand immensely as graduates in a range of fields and industry's are readily snapped up such is the quality of courses. It remains to be seen how serious the current round of "consultation" is and whether the powers that be will heed any of the messages being given. I hope Otago Polytech can retain some of it's independence at local level and that its model is used as a template around the country. As is being said our Polytech is a Regional taonga (treasure).

Good luck today to the Year 7's who are on an overnight camp out at Tirohanga. This is a new initiative in 2019 but a good time for them to do a bit more team building as well as learning outside the school setting.

Yesterday all classes attended our Ash Wednesday Liturgy held in the auditorium throughout the morning. Thanks to our RE department for the excellent reflection and to our students who all showed reverence and respect for the occasion especially during the distribution of the ashes. 

Lord, help us to walk with you toward peace and grace in this holy time of Lent. Amen