Nau mai, haere mai, talofa lava, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, kia orana, warm greetings

We have reached the business end of the season, especially for our senior students. As we enter into a week of celebration, it is vital we don’t lose focus of finishing strongly and achieving our academic goals. I have enjoyed watching our senior students working closely with their teachers preparing for externals and finishing off internal assessments. As we know, our value of Manawa means our young men will be smiling come January.

On Tuesday, we celebrate as a community the wonderful achievements and successes of individuals and groups. It is an important night and the highlight of our community as we are able to come together to acknowledge and celebrate our Year 13 graduates. When one person succeeds at St Thomas we all succeed - it is often the cumulative work of our whole community, students, teachers and parents. As we celebrate our Year 13’s as they graduate, it is with a shared satisfaction of the young men they have become. Each and every one of them is a success story, they have written their legacy and are ready to take on the world. I am thoroughly looking forward to sharing a fantastic night together next Tuesday.

All of our senior students are on site next week. Thursday at 2.30pm is when our seniors finish to go on study leave for external exams. Many of our senior students will be back at school after this date - if our staff have included them in extra classes due to their progress, this has been communicated to individual students.

Last weekend we had a change of government - the detail of our next government is still in negotiation. Throughout my experience in education, governments come and go, new initiatives and policies come and go - the constant is always the power of relationships in a school community. Respectful and caring relationships between students and teachers, and trusting and open relationships between parents and staff. I know when we focus on these two areas, and have strength in relationships, our young men flourish.

I look forward to seeing you all at our celebration on Tuesday.