Nau mai haere mai ki te tino whakahirahira nei Nga mihi nui ki a koutou katoa Talofa lava, i matua, malo le soifua. Afio mai. Warm greetings tonight to this very special occasion.

Principal's Address 2016

Tonight I want to talk about people and relationships. To focus on all the individuals whose sum we call an organisation named a school.

What is a school? Is it a physical place? Less so as we move into the cyberworld of cloud based systems, online learning, and a technology infused curriculum. So it may be a place and it may not be a place.

Is it part of an economic eco-system where we turn out young people to take their place in the world of work and enterprise? Partly it may be this but surely this cannot be the sum total of our endeavour.

Is it part of a democratic world view where we prepare young people for citizenship, for socialisation, for membership of the global community? Partly, but again not the whole.

At its heart a school is a collection of human beings invested in the future of the young people we love and raise. Like any organisation, it does not rise and fall at the end of the day on the back of technology, or money, or plant or property, or the prevailing political or educational philosophy. These are tools at our service and resources we need, but they do not make us who we are.

A school thrives and lives and grows based on the passions and relationships of the people connected to it and connected to the futures of the young people within.

We feel fortunate to be blessed with a supportive and open minded community – parents and caregivers who engage with the Catholic spirituality we embrace and the pursuit of truth, who accept the challenge we offer around trying to change the face of learning at our school, who engage with us in restorative responses when problems occur, who positively support our boys on the sports fields and in the cultural arenas, and who have the courage to stand with us challenging social structures which are unjust.

We feel blessed to have the governance of a committed and dedicated Board of Trustees who understand the flavour of this school and who also have the courage to support its senior leadership team when they take difficult public stances on issues. This speaks to their commitment to the charism of Edmund Rice. I personally wish to thank Dominic Dravitzki, our Board Chair, for his professional and inclusive leadership and the four Proprietor’s representatives, in particular, for the support during this very difficult year.

We are blessed with a great PFA who support the life of the school and assist in resourcing special projects and welcoming new parents.

We feel blessed with our young men who daily bring their energy, enthusiasm, curiosity and humour to our lives. Working with young people has the unusual duality of being both exhausting and exhilarating. Our boys are good human beings, decent kind human beings, who may sometimes get it wrong but are growing into fine men. Look at our graduates on the stage. How proud we can be of them, another year group, off into life.

And what a complex life it is for a young man to define his masculinity and humanity in a rapidly changing and demanding world. What does it mean to be a husband, partner, father, colleague, employer, employee, provider, homemaker in this diverse world. How does he define himself in relation to the politics of gender, globalisation, poverty, religion and justice? Huge questions for a young person to explore.

We are blessed to have a great staff, caring, good people who enjoy your boys, who are dedicated to their development and who are fantastic adult role models for your sons about what it means to be human.

And at the end of the day, when we sum it all up, is that not what education and schools are about, in partnership with you? Teaching our young people to be human. And to be good humans, imbued with a divine spark of the mystery of our multi cosmological world.

In terms of blessings and people, I want to talk about and farewell a particular staff member who leaves us at the end of the year after a decade at St Thomas’ leading our Pasifika community.

Leatuavao Tuifa’asisina Pelenato Petelo 

was sent from Samoa as a young man to be educated in New Zealand, far away from his parents. Among his achievements he includes a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics and a Masters of Engineering in Management and his work history incudes interpreting, lecturing, exporting and farming, the New Zealand police, the electronics industry and teaching. It is fitting that you are here, Lorraine, to share tonight as the most important person in Peri’s journey.

Peri has the status of high chief. I have heard him talk movingly of his father hand carving the to’o to’o which was handed down to him and which he keeps with him today. He knows the challenge of leaving one’s homeland to build a life in another, of straddling two cultures and two sets of expectations as a young man.

For us he has played a very special role in nurturing and being a voice for our Pasifika families and our Pasifika boys. It is no accident that our Pasifika roll was .5% when Peri arrived at the school and now sits at 17%. Peri is a pioneer in Pasifika secondary education, being one of only a few early teachers of Samoan in New Zealand, and he has been a wonderful aspirational role model for our Pasifika students. To the school community he is known affectionately as “the Chief”.

He is highly regarded in the Pasifika educational community and this is why we have Leali’’e’e Tofilau Tufulasi Taleni here with us tonight from the University of Canterbury, and Mark Tulia and Danielle O’Halloran from the Ministry of Education. Thank you for joining us in this special celebration and I know Fuetanoa kose Seinafo wishes he was with us tonight.

Peri you have been one of our blessings at St Thomas’. You have left a legacy here which we will grow and develop. I said a school is about its people and you are a perfect example of that.

Fa'afetai i le Atua (Thanks God)

I tausaga e tele sa tatou mafuta (For many years we have shared)

Lau afioga Leatuavao Petelo (With Leatuavao Petelo)

O le a le galo oe i o matou loto (We won't forget you in our hearts)

O oe o se ta'ita'i agamalie ma le tausa'afia (You are a humorous & a

cheerful leader)

Ta te ma'ona fua i ou fofoga laumata fiafia (Your smile satisfies us. )

Talofa e, o le a lele le lupe 'aulelei (Our handsome pigeon will fly away)

Sa olo i Sagato Tomasi nei (He has cooed at St Thomas school)

Malo fai o le faiva matapala (Congratulation for the hard effort)

Ua afu lau tautua (Your service is complete)

Ia manuia ou la'asaga uma (Wish you all the best for your future)

Ia tu Ieova i lo tatou va (God keeps the bond between us)

Tofa Soifua Leatuavao Petelo Peri (Goodbye Leatuavao Petelo)

Fa’afetai lava. ‘ia manuia le afiafi. Soifua.

Kia kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui

No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa