Greetings from St Bede’s

It was great to see the smiles on the boys' faces as they came in the gates; perhaps not as happy to get to class, but definitely happy about re-engaging with their mates!

Thanks to the senior boys for the video they produced to be shown to all Mana Tāne groups to begin the day, outlining what Alert Level 2 looks like in the school environment, and more particularly, the respect we wish to show any student wearing (or not wearing) a mask. While the Director General of Health has recommended the wearing of masks, he has not made it mandatory. It is the choice of the individual either way.

What has been encouraging to us in the student survey, was evidence of the level of connectiveness the Collage was able to maintain during the lockdown period. Ninety seven percent of boys when asked the question "Was your Mana Tāne kaiako (teacher) supportive and / or could you contact them during lockdown if you needed to?" answered "yes".

As we re-engage in person, staff will continue to assess the learning needs of each boy, and as you can see in the video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBkvNBacso4, we will not have formal assessments until Week 9 of the term.

Should any parent have concerns about the welfare of their son, or of their family, or that job circumstances have changed, please get hold of the College.

Three focused weeks' follow, concentrating very much on teaching and learning. We hope all our North Canterbury folk are not too inconvenienced with the high winds last night.

Until next week,

J. G. Boyle