Principal's Comment

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

Principal's Comment

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

We have had a great week at the College this week with a lot of interesting things going on. The most important were our Year 9 and 10 retreats which were held at Elephant Rocks and focussed around the theme of "We are St Kevin's College", looking at the idea of our community as being a family. Mr Harris based the experience around the film of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe which was CS Lewis' allegorical tale about the Chrisitan journey. That the film had scenes filmed at Elephant rocks helped bring the story and its themes alive. I would like to thank Mr Harris, Mrs Herbst, Mr Devereaux, Mr Farrell and Mrs Dupu for their work with these events.

Next week, there is no school on Monday as we have a 'Teacher Only Day' to look at the changes to NCEA. Also of note is that on Friday (20th of May), we have a mufti day in support of 'Pink Shirt Day' which is a campaign against bullying. The origin of the pink shirt is that there was a situation in Canada a few years ago where a new student came to school wearing a pink shirt. A group of other students bullied him. In response, the 'upstanders' in his class all collaborated the next day to wear pink shirts to school - hence 'Pink Shirt Day'. We encourage all staff and students to get into the spirit of the day, wear pink and be mindful of the harm bullying can cause.

Our Covid 19 situation has seen a slight rise in numbers with 15 students currently infected, 5 isolating and one staff member sick. We are not concerned about this as we expected a rise with the students no longer being required to wear masks but we feel this increase is in line with what most other places are experiencing as restrictions ease.

Have a great 'longer' weekend - for students anyway!

God Bless

Jo Walshe

Principal's Comment

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

Welcome back to Term 2. I spoke at assembly this week about our mission for this term being around trying to re-establish a much more 'normal' school culture where we have the opportunity to mix, perform and compete as well as to open our school once again to whānau. This week we have put that mission into practice by having our Student Led Conferences, our Cross Country and yesterday we enjoyed an afternoon of liturgy and fun to celebrate Edmund Rice Feast Day.

Next week we are inviting all parents new to the College to attend our BBQ on Friday evening and we are also looking forward to our Māori Whānau Hui which will be held in June so please keep an eye open for that notice.

Covid is still in our community, but as restrictions lessen, we are taking every opportunity to re engage with students and families. Today we have 7 students away with Covid and a further 8 isolating. This number has held steadily since the beginning of the week. Over half of our teachers have now had Covid and so we are hoping that the College will be much more settled this term than last.

I would like to finish today with a HUGE congratulations to Camden Burge for the way he ran the Cross Country today. He was an absolute running machine, not only finishing first by a huge margin but then running back to cross the line with his friends! Well done Cam.

Have a great weekend

God Bless

Jo Walshe

Principal's Comment

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

Today has been a lovely last day of term here at the College with the sun shining brightly, the students settled and enjoying the thought of two weeks of freedom and the staff, no doubt, doing much the same!

While many of our community will be back to work on Monday, there is at least a feel for all of us that the cloud may be lifting with our move to Orange Covid restrictions. Our approach next term will be that while masks are voluntary in schools, we do ask that students wear them in assembly and in the chapel where we have a lot of students together for the first few weeks whilst we monitor developments. I have explained our reasoning for this to the students and I have also reminded them that some staff and students may wish to continue to wear masks full time as they strive to protect themselves or vulnerable family members.

Today our Easter liturgy focussed on the idea of Christ as a changing force in the world and in history. It was great to see our students participating in the service through speaking, videos and singing. Anika Winders sang the song which won her the Te Reo Maori Award in the NZ Commission Hook Line and Sing-A-Long competition "Te Timatanga O te ao" and did a wonderful job. 

Next term we are planning on running a number of events at the College.  Please keep an eye on the Facebook Page and on our emails.  The first of these is the Student Led Conferences on the first Friday back.  Please make a booking and come in to hear how  your young person is tracking and what their next steps will be. 

Happy Easter

God Bless

Jo Walshe

Principal's Comment

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

This week in assembly I spoke about the importance of teamwork and of course I referred to sport where we see great examples of teamwork around us all of the time, but I also spoke about it as being something that happens as we grow up. I spoke about the process of moving from being egocentric where you only think of yourself, to being able to work with others in, for example, classes or on projects. In other words, being a team player.

I have been incredibly lucky in starting in this role at the College in the amazing teams that I have around me. We have a well run, high functioning Board with an interested and involved Presiding Member in Eugen Dupu. We have a committed and long standing Foundation with people who have real care for what they are trying to achieve for our College, with Ross Robertson at the helm. We have an Alumni group with an incredible number of clever, successful and driven people who are working to make and support connections to our College the length and breadth of New Zealand. Our Te Ngākau Nui caregiver group under the leadership of Sam Growcott does a huge variety of things in the background to support our College and raise money for the 'extras' for our students.

Our staff, hostel staff, support staff and grounds staff are motivated hard working people who love our school and its students. And for me personally, my Senior Leadership Team is an everyday blessing that I could not do without. Although Craig Smith (DP) will probably not be talking to me next week after this photograph, I just wanted to dedicate this blog to thanking all of the amazing people who work to support Team SKC, especially at this time when the pandemic is hitting us hard.

God Bless you all.

Jo Walshe

Principal's Comment

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

Today I have sent home the newly adopted sports policy which the College Board voted through on Wednesday night. It is never nice having to be in a position to ask whānau for money and I realize that things have been tough for many people over the past two years, but as Tumuaki of the College I have a responsibility to ensure that the school and its associated clubs are financially responsible and that we are realistic about costs. I also have a responsibility to my staff not to place them in a position where they are abused for doing their jobs which is why I have placed debt recovery into the financial arm of the school rather than making it the responsibility of teachers whose job is to be fantastic advocates for students not debt collectors.

I ask whānau to help us avoid embarrassing situations by doing the following things:

Please think carefully about the costs associated with the sport/s your young person is doing. While sport is a wonderful thing, it should not be driving any families into financial difficulty. Students don't have to play multiple sports or go to every tournament. Feel free to say 'no'.

Please be informed. I have asked teachers, coaches and managers to be fair and specific in the information they give out pre season so that caregivers are prepared for what is coming up in terms of travel, sport and tournament costs.

Please get involved. We are offering partial fee rebates for coaches and managers who step up and support school sport over the season. We are also happy to see fundraising happening for clubs to help spread the load. In order to fundraise for your sport, please contact the College and we will help you work through the Board process.

Please familiarize yourself with the portal. This is a hugely helpful system which doesn't take long to set up, is secure, is also linked to reports and attendance and is at the heart of our student management system. If you need help, please do not hesitate to ring the office and they will talk you through it. You can also pay part payments in the portal or pay through the office if the portal is not an option.

Finally, please communicate. We would much rather know there was a problem before things get out of hand. The last thing we want is for caregivers to be intimidated about coming to school simply because they are struggling.

To all of you playing sport over the weekend, best of luck!

God Bless

Jo Walshe

Principal's Comment

 Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

Yesterday I spent the day reviewing documents online with our new ERO (Education Review Office) review officer. In the past, ERO has visited schools once every three to five years for a few days at a time to check that schools are compliant around things like fire alarms and policies and also to check that they have some strategic direction in place. As of this year, that model has changed. ERO review officers will now work every year with schools to help them stay on track. This is much more of a partnership model and I feel a much healthier and supportive way of doing things. Like every business or institution, St Kevin's College needs to be constantly challenging itself to do things better. We need to constantly adapt for a changing world and every leader needs a critical friend to challenge their assumptions. I am looking forward to continuing this relationship.

It has been great to see sport continuing this week with some great results in rowing, cricket and volleyball to name a few. We are also seeing the winter season sports beginning to gear up, albeit slowly with the constant disruption of isolation for students. What I am cherishing most of all is seeing our students excited, happy and healthy as they participate in activities that have been interrupted over the past two years. 'Being Active' is a key message from the five ways to wellbeing research. The more our young people can physically challenge themselves, the happier they will be.

I would like to thank Mr Harris for organizing our Green Mufti day for St Patrick's Day and for our communion service to celebrate that special day. The money raised will be donated to the St Patrick's Parish to help to support vulnerable people in need.

Have a great long weekend.

Go Otago!

God Bless

Jo Walshe

Principal's Comment

Kia Ora Kevinians and Supporters of the College,

It has been another busy week at the College this week having had Ash Wednesday, the cricket game against the Willows cricket club in Christchurch, the swimming sports championships and the start of our Friday options for years 12 and 13.
The Willows game, unfortunately, did not go our way but I am reliably informed that our team was a credit to the school. I would like to thank those members of staff and whānau who travelled up to support the team and the past students who came to both play and watch the match.
As it was Ash Wednesday, I was back at the College participating in our distribution of the Ashes. It was a privilege to be able to give out the ashes to the staff and students and it reminded me very much that our Catholic rituals help to articulate the most important aspects of our humanity. The ashes, as a symbol of our mortality, remind us that no matter how important we think we are, we are still only a moment in time. It serves to remind us that the valuable things in our lives are the relationships we have with each other. I would also like to thank Mr Harris and Father Wayne for their excellent organization of the service.

I chose this image today of two friends having a chat in the sun because it captures a moment of being young, enjoying friendship, discovering new learning, enjoying nature and laughing.  All essential ingredients for a happy healthy life. 

We have had no further Covid cases today.  Our next update will be on Wednesday next week. 

God Bless

Jo Walshe

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