Welcome to Spring!

It has been an absolute pleasure to see our students enjoying the sun during break times over this past week. For our seniors, the change in season also heralds the ‘pointy end’ of the year as external exams loom and there are watchful eyes on credits and tertiary applications at present too.

This week, which is the South Island Secondary Schools’ Tournament Week, we have teams all over the South Island, from Nelson to Invercargill. This can’t happen without the commitment of parents and staff who choose to spend a week away from their homes and families looking after these young people. On behalf of all of us, I extend a huge thank you to those people.

One of the perks of my job is being able to watch our students develop and succeed outside the classroom. I have been able to watch some of our teams in action this week during tournament week and I have been impressed with the teamwork and support that is so evident, even when they play teams where on-field values are not as important as winning. I received a heartwarming email from one of our Kavanagh parents yesterday. It said,

“This morning I had the pleasure of observing Kavanagh's care and compassion in action and wanted to pass on that you should be proud of the students who were representing the school. At the secondary schools’ football tournament after Kavanagh won the match, one of the players from the opposing team was visibly upset by the outcome however, she appeared to be receiving no support from her teammates.

Once the teams had completed their cool down it was heartening to observe two Kavanagh students in their strip sitting with and offering pastoral care and support to the player from the opposing team. This is such an example of the culture of care and support we have within the college extending out to the wider community and I know it will have made a huge difference for the player who was feeling distressed.

Rather than overtly celebrating their well-deserved win, the rest of the team patiently waited while their teammates were supporting this young woman - again demonstrating compassion and sensitivity for what was happening.”

As well as an unrelenting focus on academic achievement, Catholic schools are well known for holistic education. Examples like this show that this is working.

“E te Atua, Continue to build in us compassion and aroha, so we may truly contribute to your people and the world you created for us. Amen”

Happy Father’s Day to all our fathers and father figures. You hold a very special place in the world – enjoy your day.