This week we celebrated the academic performance of our senior students by acknowledging the outstanding performance of many of our individual students as well as acknowledging the fantastic performance of our Year 12 (NCEA Level 1 83%) and Year 13 (NCEA Level 2 91%) students as a cohort in achieving the highest NCEA results we as a school have achieved. The individual student’s names and photos can be found within this newsletter.

I used the following Whakatauki “Kaua e mate wheke, mate ururoa” which translates to "don’t die like an octopus, die like a hammerhead shark". Never give up without a fight. I challenged our students to use this as a metaphor for our learning, to never give up even when times are tough, to always ask the question if we don’t understand, to surround ourselves with those that are going to assist with our learning and to accept that even if we fail, we must always try our best to be the best version of ourselves.

I was very impressed with one our Year 13 Students, Isaac Smith, who spoke as part of our opening liturgy about his personal journey towards his learning. Isaac was very courageous in admitting his failures and spoke with optimism of his goals for this year. I am sure he will achieve he has already demonstrated his growth as a person, I was very proud of him. Isaac so eloquently highlighted that not all students follow the same path and often have to fail before they can succeed. It is also worth noting that while our academic performance is very important, our main focus is most definitely the holistic development of our young men.

On Wednesday, we celebrated the start of Lent with Ash Wednesday. I thoroughly enjoyed our student led liturgy, and felt our students paved the way as we journey through Lent.

On Tuesday night, I attended the Canterbury Pasifika Supreme Academic awards. It was fantastic to see Hiram Taleni and Elisara Vaifale receive academic awards, and Caius Faatili, Zachiraih Amituanai and Elisara Vaifale receive leadership awards. Congratulations men, we are very proud of you.

We welcomed our Year 9 campers back this week from Orton Bradley Park. They had a great experience albeit tiring! I would like to thank our staff for ensuring these young men had this fantastic opportunity.

I am in constant awe of the hard work that our staff are constantly displaying as role models for our students. I feel blessed to work alongside such a hardworking and caring group of people. This week we have had three camps, multiple summer and winter sports practices, sports fixtures, drama rehearsals, debating competitions, Polyfest practices, as “extra-curricular” activities. Alongside the wonderful teaching that is on display, I also see on display constant pastoral support as our young men navigate adolescence, mentoring on a daily basis, extra tutoring opportunities and finally a constant care of the young people in our care. I thank all staff for the care they demonstrate to our young men.