Principal's Comment

Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

Today we were very lucky to have had good weather for the swimming sports with a blue enough sky that we could convince ourselves that we were warm! I would like to thank those students brave enough to have climbed into our chilly school pool today to earn house points; for their participation. Swimming sports can be a challenge as no one wants to feel foolish in their togs but our senior leaders and staff really stepped up to ensure that everyone enjoyed the day and had some fun with bright house colours, lots of cheering and lots of loud music. I would like to thank the PE department, those staff involved with supporting the students today and especially our groundsmen for the time they have put into keeping the pool running.

Today it was announced that interschool sport can go ahead without the need for vaccine passes.  This feels like a positive step in terms of a slow emergence out of restrictions which we know is the plan, however, there are a few things for schools and sporting bodies still to work out given we remain in the RED phase, so I ask for your patience around this.  Remember, you can best support your young person in sport by volunteering to coach, manage or drive them to events and by being a role model of sportsmanship on the side lines. 

Have a great weekend!

Jo Walshe

Principal's Comment

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

Today we were blessed with a brilliant day for our Athletics Sports! I would like to Thank Mr Hose and Ms Sarah Clapperton for their excellent organisation of the event as well as the volunteers and ground staff who set up and packed down the fields for us. Your work is appreciated.

In Covid times, schools have to make difficult choices around curriculum events such as Athletics. We have decided that, on balance, it is important for these events to go ahead for the mental health of our students. The downside is that we have to exclude caregivers in order for this to happen.

We hope to be able to return to a more normal arrangement soon and ask that you support and encourage your student to keep participating in sporting events as and when we are able to offer them. Being active is one of the 'Five Ways to Wellbeing', a healthy body supports a healthy mind.

Another event which has been interrupted has been our annual 'Meet the Teachers' evening. We thought hard about this as the size of our cohort would mean that not all caregivers would be able to attend under current Covid rules. We also felt that meeting the teachers for the first time and not being able to see their faces, would be problematic so we have produced a virtual 'Meet the Teachers'. The link has been emailed to Year 9 caregivers and caregivers of new students in other year levels. Please forgive the 'ums', 'ah's and shuffling, being in front of a camera is not natural for any of us but we do hope you enjoy what we have done! Thank you to Mat Harris for his fantastic editing and to James Devereaux for his support for Mat in making this happen.

Have a wonderful weekend

God Bless

Jo Walshe

Principal's Comment

Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

This week, although short, has been a busy one at the College as we are organizing our summer events including regular sports games, our school athletics and swimming events. Unfortunately with our being at the Red traffic light setting, we will not be able to welcome whānau to the events as we normally would, but it is our goal to continue with as many sporting opportunities as we are safely allowed to; for the mental health and wellbeing of our students.

Part of the '5 Ways to Wellbeing' focus we have at the College focusses on physical activity as vitally important to promote all aspects of health in our young people. I have reiterated to many classes this week that under the current rules, it is very important to be wearing masks in indoor environments to avoid being deemed a 'close contact' and subsequently missing sports events through having to isolate.

Pre -season training has commenced for Netball this week, new HOF of Physical Education Mr Hose is taking his first group to Volleyball in Timaru tonight and we have cricket games coming up against various teams, so we are getting moving - literally!

This week we are also acknowledging loss in our community. We were saddened to hear of the death of Frank McAtamney, past pupil and All Black who died aged 87 this week. We extend our thoughts and prayers to his family.

On Sunday I am also taking a group of staff and students to bid farewell to Sister Mary Horn and the Dominican Order who are leaving Oamaru after many many years of dedicated service. Our College has the dual charisms of the Christian Brothers and the Dominican order. With the departure of the last of the order from our midst, we do feel an added responsibility to ensure that we consciously continue to deliver a curriculum in which 'Veritas' is a cornerstone.

Have a great weekend!

Jo Walshe

Principal

Principal's Comment

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

Welcome to the first formal post of the year from me in my new role as Principal. It has been a somewhat surreal start to the year with the emergence of Omicron in the community in New Zealand, but after a holiday season where we got sunshine on Christmas day and a successful start to the year for our new students and teachers, we do feel as prepared as we can for what is to come.

The messaging to the school has been very clear. We understand that this year we will have to work with Omicron so we are preparing to have 'business as usual ' as much as possible by finding new and innovative ways to connect. Mr Devereaux has kindly lent us his expertise from Auckland where schools have been operating with hybrid learning models for 18 months. It has been wonderful to be able to tap into his experience.

Mr Devereaux using 'Google Meetings'

We are encouraging staff to get creative in their thinking around how we communicate. Mr Harris has worked on a livestream option which we used with our Prefect Induction Mass today and we have a very energetic team putting together a 'meet the teachers' presentation which we hope will give parents who are new to the College an idea of who we all are, even if we are unable to meet each other face to face just yet.

Te Ngakau Nui, our Home and School organization is very keen to recruit new members. You can join this lovely group by contacting the College and we will pass your name on to the organizers. This group is for both men and women. You can join the committee or simply add your name to the list of willing helpers for fundraising events. Meetings take no longer than an hour and are held sparingly.

I wish everyone a safe and relaxing long weekend.

God Bless

Jo Walshe