Mike King visit

King at the Castle

On Thursday our entire senior school started their day in the auditorium with what was a pretty special presentation by comedian Mike King.

Mr King is a passionate advocate for supporting others in their personal journeys and his message told through the reflective stories of his youth and upbringing was equal parts engaging, entertaining and most certainly affecting. Our young men listened to Mr King tell of his life with his family, his friends and most importantly himself as he struggled to find who he was as a young man looking for his path. Mr King's stories struck a chord with much of our school audience, everyone understood his methods of hiding behind masks and certain behaviours as a way of coping with life's various slings and arrows.

Ultimately, Mr King's overarching message to our boys was that of hope and support. Through his relaxed comedy and anecdotes which we could all relate to, he was able to show us that we all struggle through our lives but that not all of us look for or find help. Our boys left Mr King's hugely powerful session with the knowledge that they are all capable of helping their friends, their brothers - no one person should feel like they cannot seek help, ever.

As you would expect, our boys were a respectful audience who offered Mr King and his team a positive welcome to our school and sent them off with a stirring haka which reflected their appreciation of his visit and also of his message to our school community.