Greetings from St Bede’s College.

We end Week 7 on a sombre note, along with the city and the nation, marking the first anniversary of the Mosque shootings. Colourful socks was a physical reminder, a donation was another with proceeds going to St John Ambulance. 

However, for some we are mindful that anniversaries stir up memories that may cause distress for your sons. They should be encouraged to talk these over. If you have any concerns in this regard, please contact the College and we will ensure our counsellors are available to assist.

The anniversary may also provoke conversations with your son about a number of related issues. Questions and conversations about Islam, terrorism, the dark side of technology may all be subjects that come up and these should be encouraged.

At our staff reflection, Mr Dowers shared the following from scripture which seems apt for today:

"In this new life, it doesn't matter if you are a Jew or not, circumcised or uncircumcised, civilized or uncivilized, slave or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Make allowances for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony, and let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body, you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful."

To assembly, we invited old boy Luke Thompson, one of a few world-wide that have participated in four World Rugby Cups for Japan. Unwanted to play for Canterbury, Luke went to Japan and forged a career well over a decade playing club and international rugby.

He addressed the assembly and had some excellent advice for the boys; more about life than rugby, which is worth sharing.

The first message was remaining humble, and stressed the point of putting aside your own ego for the betterment of the group / team / family you are part of. The ability of an individual to have and express humility definitely adds a lot to whatever group you are part of.

Luke is not the only person to emphasise the importance of HARD WORK and he stressed the importance of going the extra mile in preparing and participating, which will consequently look after the performance. Results do not necessarily come immediately, and are not always visible in the short-term, but he found that if he persisted with the 3Ps - preparation, pratice and performance, this served him well. Outwork anyone that doubts you!! Luke made a good point about practice and repitition being the only way to consistently perform.

Luke's last point that he dwelt upon was about being resilient, a word that comes up in relation to one's well-being a lot. He told the stories of being dropped and unwanted - too small for a lock, too slow for a flanker; were the reasons given for his non-selection in a number of teams. 

When Luke was dropped from Canterbury, an opportunity opened in Japan. Often in adversity, other doors open. He related the story about being dropped a few years later from his Japanese club - too slow for flanker, too small for lock, and he shared how once again he slipped into a 'dark place', not wanted in New Zealand, not wanted in Japan. He hung in, and eventually was approached by another club, where he stayed for fourteen years.

As Luke said, "What was at the time the most difficult and seemingly impossible barriers, turned out to be the greatest opportunity..."

Resilience is the ability to outlast the tough times to get over the barrier and find a new opportunity.

It struck me listening to Luke, his message is a very good one for we parents as well! Too often, in our recent experiences, we find parents leaping to their child's defence when things don't go the way they expect. The 3Ps, our old boy was speaking about, a dose of humility and learning resilience are life-lessons for all our boys.

Until next week,

J.G. Boyle