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

As we come to the end of Week 6, I reflect upon the engagement of our students and staff in living our mission of "educated hearts and educated minds". The level of connection and belonging that is displayed daily, both inside and outside of classroom, hold us in good stead to achieve our goals.

Earlier in the term I wrote about our University Entrance and Level 3 results which see our young men leading the way in boys education by having the highest University Entrance (75%) and Level 3 (91%) achievement rate across all State and State Integrated schools in Canterbury. This achievement level also places St Thomas of Canterbury College in the top 12% of all schools nationally for University Entrance achievement across Independent, State Integrated and State education, regardless of gender. St Thomas of Canterbury College represents a true New Zealand we are a proud multi-cultural community that is represented across the full socio-economic spectrum. We have learnt that when young men are connected to their community with high expectations for all activities they participate in, surrounded by passionate and hardworking adults, they are able to achieve dreams.

We are very proud of these results; it demonstrates that young men of all cultures are able to achieve at the highest level. We are often inundated via both mainstream and social media that young men don’t achieve, that they are disruptive, overrepresented in all negative statistics (imprisonment rates, stand down and suspensions, truants, both the victims and perpetrators of violent crime). Unfortunately the list goes on as does the negative narrative repeated daily. This doesn’t represent an optimistic view of the future by both young men themselves and the community they live in.

I believe here at St Thomas we have a working example of how young men can thrive in a modern world, a culturally responsive world, and an innovative 21st Century focused world. Last year St Thomas achieved remarkable results in sports, often a societal attitude stereotypes a school a “Sports School” or an “Academic School”. I believe you can be both. In fact, there is a greater and more important third “type”. And that is a school that produces students to serve, to make the world a better place, to understand the power of relationships and community. This well-rounded student is what we aspire to work towards in partnership with our Whanau.

Schools traditionally gain media coverage rightly or wrongly when they achieve major sporting success. Last year, when our Rugby League team won the national title, a remarkable achievement gained a lot of media coverage. The most important part of this story can be reported now - of the ten Year 13 students who made up that team, 90% of the players gained University Entrance and Level 3. This is the true victory - it is achieving inside and outside of the classroom it is having high expectations and belief in our talents alongside powerful trusting relationships with our staff, coaches, and mentors.

As we start our journey and story for 2024, it is important we learn from the past while stepping with optimism into the future. I am filled with absolute optimism that 2024 will be another wonderful year, and another year that I feel honoured to be part of this special community.

Steve Hart

Principal