Principal's Blog

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

Over the past two days I have been attending a meeting of the Otago/ Southland Secondary School Principal's group in Wanaka where we have been lucky enough to have heard from some very interesting speakers. I was very impressed with a presentation by Dr Chris Bowden on the impact of trauma on children and how schools can support recovery. It is very exciting to hear about the research being conducted around brain development. In the past few years schools, social agencies and the health system have all benefitted from research in this area as we learn more about how the brain functions and why people respond the way they do to stressful situations. The more we understand, the better tools we can develop to target the response.

Today at school we had a mufti day to support the building of the new stadium and we hosted the icon Te Ara a Maria (Mary's way). This is a beautifully painted piece which blends the traditional symbols of French Catholicism with Māori Taonga to represent the journey of the Catholic faith to the Māori via the first French missionaries. Painted by Damien Walker, this lovely piece served as a focus for our students in RST and liturgy today of not only devotion but also provided the backdrop for learning about how iconography is used to express ideas.

I wish all of you a happy and safe long weekend.

May God bless you.

Ngā mihi Nui

Paul Olsen 

Principal's Comment

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

This week leading to the holidays has been a busy one at the College with our continuing the process to put our new senior management team in place, finish what has been an interrupted term with our junior classes and run mock exams. Not all subjects have run exams at this stage, but departments where study for exams was largely done prior to lock down decided to continue with the scheduled 'mocks' to take the stress off students around the actual NCEA exam period.

We have also celebrated Catholic Schools day at the College with a smaller gathering of students from Year 8 at St Josephs representing their connection to our College. The students had a busy day with us with technology classes in the morning, pizza for lunch with the senior leaders and then participating in our liturgy to celebrate Catholic Education in New Zealand. One of our staff commented this week that he saw us as not only educating the students in terms of their brain but that we also educate their souls. That sentiment struck a chord with me as perfectly encapsulating the essence of what makes a Cathoolic school different.

Have a great holiday period. I urge our senior students to take time to regroup, rest and revise.

May God bless you.

Ngā mihi Nui

Paul Olsen