Kia Ora

Welcome back to Term 2.

Our first week back has ended with the passing of a St Bede's icon. 

Gary Lennon passed away on Monday. Gary taught at St Bede’s for 31 years and was installed as one of the six St Bede’s Icons as part of the Centennial celebrations in 2012. A number of the current Staff taught with him and many of our current students' fathers, uncles and cousins will have been taught or coached by him. Gary’s funeral was held at school  today and as expected a large number of his family, friends, former colleagues and Old Boys attended. This was a significant event for the College as he was a person who had great influence on the lives of many people. 

We should be proud of the collective efforts of the first term. Despite the challenges presented, students, staff and our wider community rallied together to ensure school remained a safe and enjoyable place to be. 

This week, we celebrated student achievement in and out of the classroom through the presentation of academic, cultural, sporting and community pockets with students and parents at our Pockets assembly. Well done to those boys who gained pockets. Not only do pockets recognize individual ability, they also represent  hard work, commitment and perseverance. 

The beginning of a new term is also a time to reset in some other aspects as well. Next Tuesday we host in the vicinity of 600 people for Open day, the vast majority of whom will be new to the place. It is a time to showcase not only the campus, but also those who learn and teach here. 

We appreciate your leeway in allowing the boys to learn from home today, allowing us to celebrate Gary's life.

Until next week

J Boyle