At the end of Term 2 we celebrated one of our biggest College traditions: Special Character Week.

It’s a declaration and celebration of what it means to be a Catholic boys’ school in New Zealand:

· We celebrated Mass with Fr Michael Therese Scheerger and prayed in different languages that reflect our community.

· We sung in Samoan as a part of our ongoing goals around multicultural awareness.

· We competed in a massive haka contest.

· We raised money for our community through a fair that promoted team building and ethical business practices ($3621.90 raised)

· We collected clothing for the needy. (1563 items donated to Saint Vincent de Paul)

· We enjoyed competitions like tug of war, staff v students basketball and indoor football.

· We grew closer as mentor groups with fun activities and a shared breakfast.

· We had a massive quiz.

· We welcomed old boys back into the College as our judges and special guests.

· We farewelled staff who were leaving our community.

It’s clear to see how these activities demonstrate our Edmund Rice Values:

Engaged, Ethical, Spiritual, Conscientised, Hopeful and Compassionate.

Like you, as parents, these are the values we want to grow in our young men to make them dignified, loving and kind citizens. This is how we round off knowledge with ‘manliness’.

The 2020 Special Character Week was initiated in a Zoom meeting during the lockdown. The Year 13 Leaders met with SLT to analyse the why, when and how of the week. We were hopeful but also realistic… the final week of celebration was actually version 7 of our plans. We would like to acknowledge the energy and resilience of the Year 13 Leadership Team who persevered because they knew that our community needed moments of joy, laughter, triumph and peace.

In this regard, the week was a huge success. Staff who had worked so tirelessly during lockdown continued to show love and care for the students at the end of a long, cold and exhausting term.

Thank you to all the teachers who worked hard to make the week a special time for us all. The mentor teachers are the key to the success of the week.

Thank you to the students who stepped up and showed leadership by sharing their talents and skills.

Thank you to the boys who went outside their comfort zones and to those boys who dug deep to raise so much money and donate so much clothing for the needy.

Saint Thomas of Canterbury College is a school community that reflects Christ’s mission in the Gospels: we honour the dignity of the individual, we care for the community and we trust in God to help us when we are faced with challenges.

We hope to release a video of highlights soon.