This was a 3-day week for day boys but a longer one for the staff. 

This allowed for a most successful inaugural boarding retreat to occur at Living Springs, run by Mr McDowall and Mr Williams, which has set the tone for our boarding community for the year.

Living springs is a great facility offering various team building exercises and opportunities that help create positive relationships between a largely newly appointed staff and the boys, as well as fostering good relationships among the boys of the boarding school.

Of interest will be the institution of a programme called KIVA, a programme that has its origins in Finland, which we are going to trial in the boarding school. This centres on student relationships within school communities in a proactive way, rather than schools only responding when problems arise. The KIVA programme has had some success in a number of schools overseas. We have also introduced an RTI programme (Response to Intervention) in the day school that will be overseen by the new Centre of Enhancement faculty.

The establishment of the new Centre of Enhancement faculty, gathers under one roof a number of areas of the school that had previously worked in relative isolation. Learning Support, Careers, ESOL, high performance sport and culture are the areas that make up this new faculty, its new head being Ms Sullivan.

At assembly we acknowledged the first 11 cricket team that was successful in beating Sacred Heart, Auckland in the first of their traditionals, and we publicly acknowledged the rowers and their achievements at the regatta over the holidays.

The Swimming sports held today is the first of 3 whole school community events in the next week. Athletic Sports occur on Tuesday and Thursday and our first College mass is at 9am next Friday, to which you are all invited. Chief celebrant is the bishop elect Father Paul Martin, who on two occasions has been a staff member here at St Bede’s. We look forward very much to his continued relationship with the College, albeit in another capacity!

Until next week

Justin Boyle