Kia ora e te whānau,

This week we had many of our junior students participating at the Catholic schools' sports tournament hosted by Trinity Catholic College in Dunedin. After a very early start we got on the road to be welcomed at the Edgar Centre and it was very moving to have Fr Vaughan Hook lead us in waiata and a blessing. We prayed for Trinity and for their student who recently passed in the tragic incident at the bus stop, and we all came together in unity as people of faith and hope.

The games were all played in excellent heart and there were some great battles on the fields and on the courts. I would personally like to thank all the parent and teacher volunteers who give of their time to ensure days out like this for our children can take place. Our sports coordinator Rebecca Chittock does such a fantastic job in organising and facilitating teams and even does a spot of umpiring when needed! Unfortunately, we have been battling with increased cases of illness and covid and this has meant that we haven’t always been able to produce full strength teams or full classrooms in that case. Thank you to everyone in our community who is communicating with us around these absences so that we know you are safe, and our attendance codes are entered correctly.

Coaching and/or managing a sports team or a cultural group within or outside of school is an absolute privilege and the appreciation show by our community for this is outstanding. The look on students faces when they are playing their hearts out and giving it their all is something that raises our school pride and builds character and resilience. I coach the most awesome little Year 7 basketball team and last night we got beaten by our top St Peter’s team with a record score, but I was so proud of my girls for never giving up and for learning invaluable lessons on the court that will make them better players and people in the future! You are all super stars!

I am pleased and blessed to let you know that I will be taking two weeks leave next term in September to take part in a Catholic pilgrimage through key places in Italy and France. I would like to thank our School Board for supporting my leave request and I look forward to taking some time to refresh, reconnect and refocus on my faith and wellbeing. This year is my fifth year of principalship, and it has not been an easy vocation at times, but I can honestly say there has not been a single day I haven’t wanted to come to work and have loved every minute despite the challenges. I too have learned invaluable lessons along the way, and I know I have not been able to make all the people happy all the time as no one can, but I can promise you I love the community of St Peter’s College. Thank you to all of you who have shown me support, the kind words and messages mean a lot. The more challenging communications also help me to be better so thank you too.

A pilgrim’s physical journey can ‘jumpstart’ a spiritual transformation, as it were, through the radical act of leaving behind the world that is known. It’s no accident that so much of the great literature of the world picks up on this very theme of the hero’s transformative journey, from the story of Abraham in Genesis, to the great epics, The Odyssey, The Iliad, even The Lord of the Rings. A pilgrimage of transformation requires first that we leave everything behind and set out on a journey that will lead to new life. Pilgrimage: A Journey Within by Br Geoffrey Tristram, SSJE

Charity Fulfils the Law

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