This short week has been a full one. 

On Tuesday night we hosted 14 first elevens along with nearly 200 others at the Willows Cricket club dinner. This is an event that occurs every two years and it is a pleasure to host. 

The Willows Club was founded in the 1990s and is the inspiration of Mr Mike Dormer. The aim of the club is to foot older players against first 11s of various schools, and the fixture list on a Sunday throughout the summer is full. By mixing with more experienced players the first eleven boys learn the game. 

Other opportunities have developed. A willows cricket team tours the sub continent every two years which is generously sponsored by benefactors from both here in NZ and overseas. Every two years the dinner is staged at St Bede’s, which is a pleasure to host. Previous guest speakers include John Eales, Nick Farr Jones, both Australian rugby players, Glenn Turner and Frank Tyson. 

This week three former NZ cricketers were part of a panel that reflected on their careers. The Marshall twins and Peter Fulton gave interesting insights from long professional cricket careers. Sir Richard Hadlee also had copies of “The Skippers Diary”, which collates the memoirs and thoughts of his father, Walter, who was the captain of the 1949 NZ team that toured England. In addressing the dinner Sir Richard commented that this project was one of the best achievements of his life, quite a comment from someone who once held the world record for the number of test wickets.

Reuben Thorne, ex All Black captain was the keynote speaker and once again, in sharing his journey, had great advice for the young men assembled. 

In this weeks assembly we talked about student leadership and gave some pointers in light of the fact that the boys are voting for the student leaders for next year.

Leadership

Here is what I shared with the boys at assembly.

On the student emails are voting forms for next years student leaders. I want to congratulate the good number who have put themselves forward to perform leadership positions.

Let me for a minute talk about leadership. It comes in all sorts of forms. We appoint prefects, we appoint peer leaders. However, leadership doesn’t have to come with a title or a position. Nor is it necessarily the student with the biggest voice or the most visible. We have encouraged all Y12s to apply and will endeavour to find leadership opportunities for all throughout the year, whether they are appointed to positions or not.

Effective leaders work behind the scenes, by serving the group or team they are a part of. They look out for the needs of that group. They take the initiative by doing things that make that group operate more effectively. That could mean they take the initiative by cleaning up a dressing room, volunteering to do a prayer at the beginning of a lesson, simply saying good day to someone who may not be the most popular, or chewing the fat with someone who is a bit down or upset.

Leadership is not about doing those wee things just in front of people who you want to notice, like teachers. True leaders are those guys who do small acts, not to be noticed, but because they genuinely care about other people who they rub shoulders with. Before you vote think of those guys that will roll up their sleeves for the school community.

At SBC we talk about leadering from among……..I say to prefects when they are appointed not to be mantle piece prefects! In other words, guys who are appointed to get their picture in the magazine but do nothing!

One of the challenges I put in front of prefects is to know the first name of as many in the student body as possible. It’s a big ask but taken seriously, because at SBC we say everyone matters, and we need to put our words into action.

Who of the people you see on the list relate well, and do the small things like greeting others apart from their close mates and make people feel at home.

Sure there will be people on the list who have excelled in their fields and we need that leadership as well, but it is not the only form of leadership.

A large component of leadership is about treatment of others. So think carefully about voting.

Until next time

Justin Boyle, Rector