Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,
Today we celebrated Pink Shirt Day which is a time to focus on the idea of preventing bullying from happening. The students and staff got into the spirit of the day by dressing in pink and enjoying the positive message of not being a 'bystander', but being an 'upstander' which was reinforced in our chapel liturgy today.
Bullying can be an extremely challenging issue to tackle and it is becoming more challenging with the rise of social media and the creation of a media culture which sees bullying people as entertainment. 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' feels like the 21st Century's answer to the Colosseum at times!
There are also no quick fixes to bullying which is why we favour the 'Restorative Practice' model here at school. At the heart of that idea is the idea that 'hurt people hurt people'. We need both the bully and the victim to buy into the process in order to get to the heart of the issue. For us, this is part of our Catholic spirituality. When you seek a Catholic education for your student at our College you are opting into that system where we seek to treat the hurt of both victim and perpetrator. It is also at the heart of matauranga māori and part of what it means to reconcile with others in our country.
We are blessed to have excellent practitioners of Restorative Practice here at the College. RP takes a very long time, a huge amount of emotional energy and a real commitment to the message of Christ. It is far from the easy option. I would like to take this opportunity to reassure any families who are given the opportunity to work in a restorative way with our pastoral care team to take the invitation to be part of something which can be incredibly empowering and affirming.
God Bless
Jo Walshe
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