Find your navigator

A fantastic week at WC celebrating Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa. On Monday we raised the Samoan flag at WC. As the flag went up, I thought about the importance of raising cultural awareness and how many Samoan and Pasifika aiga, current boys, staff, Old Boys and friends of our college that have been, and are, integral to where we are now. How crucial that commitment and support has been to all of us!

Faafetai mo lou alofa, taitaiga ma le lagolago a le Kolisi o Ueligitone.

I was honoured and privileged to be welcomed, along with new staff and Pasifika parents, to WC by our PPSG (Pasifika Parents Support Group) last night. Sincere thanks to all the boys, parents and Old Boys who turned up in large numbers, and to Debbie Tiatia and Meripa Leifa for their superb organisation, MCing and being the face of the PPSG. We can’t thank you enough. Huge thanks also to Liz Pa’u our school chaplain for bringing her alofa and wisdom to the room and for blessing us all.

Reverend Au Liko, an old boy of WC, spoke inspirationally about how our boys needed to find their navigator, a person at WC who is a role model and someone to look up to. The Reverend also said, “Pick your travel companions wisely!” He talked passionately about his belief in all of our boys. It was superb.

Reverend Liko reminded me of a teacher of mine, Mr Frost at Kings High School, in Dunedin. He would say, “Boys, show me your friends and I will show you your future!”

Thank you to all those who spoke last night and their commitment to our boys and WC.

I thank everybody in our community for their support of our three Ts: on time, be tidy and we are a telling school. The boys are responding really well.

My messages this week to our boys has been fourfold:

1. Say yes to opportunities. Particularly those that will take you out of your comfort zone. You will never be the same person again and you’ll be surprised at how big your comfort zone is.
2. Appreciate everything and everyone you have. Tell them you love them, tell them you’re grateful for them, and tell them you appreciate them.
3. Small conversations often stop you having a really big and awkward conversation later.
4. Sometimes saying no is the most caring and loving thing you can do for yourself and others.

When I was in the Sixth form at school, we read, Son’s for the Return Home by Samoan author Albert Wendt, a book that I still hold in the highest regard. I leave you with a quote from another book he wrote, The Adventures of Vela:

“We can't re-walk the exact footprints we make in the stories of our lives but we'll hear again our footprints like the lullabies our parents sang us the moment our stories end. Perhaps out of our footprints our children will nurse wiser lullabies”.

‘‘O le ala i le pule o le tautua’’ (The pathway to leadership is through service).

Receive the light and pass it on.

Mr Denham