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

We have had an extremely busy fortnight here at St Thomas' both inside and outside the classroom, with the culmination of preparation for mock exams and internal assessments in full swing, alongside most winter codes have coming to an end with finals. We have a school full of very busy young men.

I would like to congratulate our 1st V on their marvellous victory on Tuesday night claiming the senior basketball Canterbury title. Often with a successful outcome we focus on the action on the court, but the truth in such victories is what happens over the countless months leading up to a final. This particular team has created a culture of hard work and dedication, it is not uncommon to find our 1st V basketballers in the gym at 6.00am most mornings working on their craft. I would also like to highlight the hard work that this group put into their academic studies with most of the Year 13’s close to achieving UE at this point of the year.

It is my experience that success comes when all areas of a student’s life is full and balance. When we add to this passion, determination, work ethic and, of course, our famous Manawa, we get to see the wonderful scenes that we witnessed at Cowles Stadium on Tuesday night. A massive congratulations to Head Coach, Joe Hammond, his management group, Co Captains Hugo Gonzalez and Louie Gordon, and all the players involved. 

A special mention to Mana Martin who, as a Year 11 student, was named MVP for the final.

I would also like to congratulate Mr Scadden and Mr Lange in preparing our 1st XI Football team who played in their final at English Park on Wednesday night. A fantastic achievement in playing a senior regional final. While, on this occasion, we came second to a very well performed Cashmere High School, our 1st XI players displayed all the attributes mentioned above for them to have high expectations for the National Tournament they will participate in next week.

I would like to wish all of our sports teams participating in tournament week the best of luck -  go well!