Principal's Comment

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

It was with great sadness this week that we heard of the death of Owen Gould. Owen was a staunch supporter of rowing in the college for many years and on the night he passed was working with many of our students doing what he loved. Owen was a man of great passion and selflessly gave his time in order to coach many of our past and present students in rowing. North Otago owes a debt to Owen and indeed many young people will be feeling that they lost a great influence from their lives. I have included this photo from our 'out takes' from the Sports and Cultural photos this year, as you can clearly see the joy on the faces of the student rowers as they interact with him. Rest in Peace Mr Gould and may perpetual light shine upon you.

May God bless you.

Ngā mihi Nui

Paul Olsen 

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 

Principal's Comment

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

This week has been a great week in the College that has made me feel very proud of my community. I spoke to my staff this morning about the mahi being done by the various boards we have in the school and just how much I appreciate the support these groups give us and the way in which the mission of the school, to live our values of Family, Integrity, Respect and Excellence really is held sincerely by the people who serve on them. It is so much easier to paddle the waka when we are all heading in the same direction!

This week we have worked hard to ensure that our students are feeling prepared for external examinations and completing their NCEA requirements. We have reinforced to students the importance of asking for help and letting someone know if they need assistance prioritising their learning or with study tips. I appeal to anyone out there who might be concerned about their student after lockdown to please get in touch with the pastoral team. I have reinforced to the students in assembly this week that we need to assure ourselves that with the correct approach, everything will turn out fine.

I have included a picture this week of Jacob's cooking class. Jacob enjoys cooking on a Friday with Tanya and Sami. Sami is a talented young cook who volunteers his time to help out with these lessons and I wanted to give a shout out to him for the work he is doing here.

As it is Maori language week this week, I leave you with this thought

'He taonga rongonui te aroha ki te tangata'

Good will towards others is a precious treasure

May God bless you.

Ngā mihi Nui

Paul Olsen       

 

Principal's Comment

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

The sun is shining brightly, we are in Level 3 lockdown as opposed to Level 4, the blossom trees down the driveway of the school look absolutely amazing, the birds are singing and its Friday! I am following the advice from 'The Five Ways of Wellbeing' and 'Taking Notice' of the good things that I see around me, and as we head into the weekend I strongly advise our students to do the same because there are a lot of really good things going on.

I have been thrilled to see the variety of different activities that have been popping up on the Google classrooms and it has been wonderful to see the different ways teachers have chosen to engage with you from making movies and robots, to photography, to passion projects. There have also been a number of different competitions which have been shared up to keep you entertained over this lockdown period. Mr Farrell sang a song to our staff this morning which was written with his Year 11 group which we loved! Jocelyn has shared recipes online and, as you can see from the photo included, Mrs Plunkett has even found a way to continue with her putiputi flower placement onto a Kakahu which was made during the last lockdown.

For anyone having connectivity issues or issues with computers, we are here to help. You will have seen our post about the Skinny Jump deal and we can also help with Chrome books if needed, just contact Leanne in the office.

Covid lockdowns are frustrating and can be challenging, but how we think about the challenges they present really can make a big difference to how well we deal with them. Looking for the good things and maintaining positive self- talk is enormously important. It helps us to keep a steady course, especially those senior students sitting NCEA. It would be a mistake to bank on getting learning credits at this stage. What would not be a mistake is focussing on having a balanced, cohesive, and well advised approach. Please contact the Deans, Mr Harris or Ms Walshe and your whanau teachers if you need any help.

May God bless you.

Ngā mihi Nui

Paul Olsen       

Principal's Comment

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

On Friday, the staff enjoyed a trip down to East Otago High School in Palmerston to share a training day with our colleagues there. There were two aspects we were working on, the first being the changes to NCEA which are coming into effect over the next few years and the second, a look at the latest thinking around Restorative Practice. We were thrilled to have Richard Matla from Restorative Schools there to facilitate the day and it was great to be able to share thoughts and experiences around the implementation of both systems with staff from another school. We are looking forward to working with East Otago more in the future as there is a good fit with us both being coeducational schools in a rural setting. I would like to thank the staff there for making us feel very welcome.

This weekend we are hosting the Bishops' Shield competition here in Oamaru. This competition attracts the best speakers, performers, debaters and theologians from the other schools in our Diocese and we are thrilled to be able to host them this year after the cancellation of the competition through Covid in 2020. We are still short of billets for the weekend so I urge you to contact Jo Walshe jwalshe@stkevins.school.nz if you are able to take students. These are fine young people who will be very easy to host and I would appreciate the support.

May God bless you.

Ngā mihi Nui

Paul Olsen

Principal's Comment

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

Term three has started in an extremely positive manner with our being able to begin using our new classrooms and food technology area. While we will miss the Gilchrist Building Services staff who have done such a fantastic job on our new classrooms, we will not miss the inconvenience of not being able to cook food in the food technology room or use our own offices.

Staff and students have been equally impressed with the new facilities and all that is left is for us to officially open them on August 13th. That date also signals the beginning of the Bishop's Shield weekend which is being held here at Saint Kevin's College. Thank you to all those involved, including volunteers from our community who are judging. I would like to especially single out Jennifer Herbst for thanks for her organisation of this which is a big ask at any stage, let alone when you have just taken on the organisation of the Religious Studies faculty. I would like to remind whanau that everyone is welcome at the Bishop's Shield event.

Have a happy weekend

May God bless you.

Ngā mihi Nui

Paul Olsen

Principal's Comment

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

Ms Walshe told me today I need to find a new word rather than 'magnificent' as I've somewhat over used it this week, but that is how I feel about the display of sportsmanship, camaraderie and passion that I have seen across the codes in the last few days. The competition this year was always going to hold an extra element of meaning for us as we have held Watesoni in our hearts throughout our games. The sense of community we have felt as a school this week has certainly reinforced our identity as 'family' and, I hope, has reinforced for our students the importance of being together as a school, 'supporting each other in love'.

My heartfelt congratulations to all of the teams who have participated over the course of the week. We have had some stunning (another of my favourite words) wins and some gracious losses and we have all enjoyed being part of the SKC team. As one of our Old Boys so eloquently put it in our assembly today, TEAM means 'Together Everyone Achieves More'.

Well done everyone.

Have a well deserved break

May God bless you.

Ngā mihi Nui

Paul Olsen

Principal's Comment

Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

As we approach the end of the term I must admit to looking forward to moving past important calendar dates where a potential Covid 19 disruption could throw a spanner in the works. Two major dates coming up for the students are the Ball on the 3rd July and the Waitaki Week sports exchanges held during the last week of school. Based on the positive news we have had out of Wellington so far of no community spread, I believe we should be excited about both of these events going ahead, but I also want to reassure the community that we have alternative plans in place if there were a Covid related lockdown of any sort. That is an important message to reiterate too around the rest of our core business. We are prepared for lockdowns if they are ever deemed necessary and we are confident we have good plans in place for looking after our students.

 

I would like to congratulate the Arts Faculty for a great night last night where students were able to showcase their various talents. Visual Art, Costume Design, Photography, Music, Drama and Dance were all featured and having the various strands collected together into a showcase certainly reinforced the wide variety and depth of talent we have here at the college.

I pray that the weather is kind to those of you planting trees on Service Hill on Sunday morning and encourage anyone who wants to be part of this historical event to bring a shovel and lend a hand. This is our opportunity to truly live our value of respect for our planet.

May God bless you.

Ngā mihi nui
Paul Olsen

Introducing Coach Ella Brown!

Next up for our 'Coach Highlights', we have Ella Brown!

Ella coaches our Senior B Netball and Junior Cricket teams. 

⭐How did you get involved in coaching at SKC?

I moved to Oamaru at the beginning of Summer to work for North Otago Cricket and part of this role involved coaching at SKC. I coached the Junior Cricket team, High Performance Netball and Cricket.

⭐What sports do/have you played?

I am currently club netball in Oamaru for Maheno. While at school I used to play cricket, basketball, tennis and squash. I took this summer of cricket to train and complete a half ironman.

⭐Have you played any sport at a representative level?

I have played for the Netball South Beko team for a couple of years. I also played for the Otago Sparks Women’s Cricket Team for a few seasons and captained the Otago Under 21 Cricket team when I was younger.

⭐What is your favourite part about coaching?

I thoroughly enjoy working with players and building relationships to get to know them better. I love being in a position where I can give back to the sport and pass on my knowledge. Seeing a team achieve success is one of the most rewarding things of coaching.

⭐What is your personal coaching philosophy?

I believe that playing a team sport enables you to develop life long skills. The people you meet and friendships you make through sport can last a life time. Coaching has enabled me to pass on knowledge that my own coaches have taught me and develop our next up and coming players.

⭐Advice to young sportspeople?

Make the most of every opportunity you are given. You never know what might be around the corner. Lastly, don’t be afraid to ask for help, someone is always more than willing to offer support.

⭐Favourite Quote?

“Better than before”

So great to have you on board Ella!

Tree Planting- Sunday 27th June

A final reminder of the tree planting that is happening this Sunday 27th June, starting 9.30am and meeting at the Redcastle. 

Jimmy will kindly have all the trees at the top of the hill to make it much easier for the planters, so you won't have to carry them up! This will make it a lot quicker and we anticipate to be finished at lunchtime. 

Let's hope we get a day like this! Please spread the word!

Please email jmcgeown@stkevins.school.nz if you would like to put your name down, or have any questions about the morning.

Scripture Reading Results

Congratulations to all our finalists who took part in the recent Scripture Reading competition. 

Special mention to the following who placed in the top 3 in their year levels:

Year 9 

1st - Alex Scadden
2nd - Kezia Pestell
3rd - Janelle Casitas

Year 10

1st - Cooper Jones
2nd - Cheska Tion
3rd - Shanvi Mani

Year 11 

1st - Samuel Plieger
2nd - Anika Winders
3rd - Olivia Mavor

Year 12 

1st - Vince Vidallion
2nd - Cushla Bridges
3rd - Lance Calbone

Year 13 

1st - Joseph Spillane
2nd - Rhea Ratgali
3rd - Tristan Serrano

A big thank you to our awesome judge, Michele Fatafehi from GIANT LEAPS Speech Co.

Pictured: Senior winners (Vince Vidallion Year 12, Joseph Spillane Year 13 and Samuel Plieger Year 11)