Principal's Message

What a wonderful day we had at our Athletics Sports on Monday! It was a very inclusive and supportive yet competitive day where some impressive displays of athleticism were on show. While Rice took out the House honours on the day, the participation and effort by all was exemplary.

Once again we congratulate Erika Fairweather on her outstanding swimming results during the weekend in Melbourne. Erika set an age-grade record in the 400m freestyle and swam a quicker time than any female swimmer under the age of 19 has achieved in New Zealand. That is certainly an achievement to be proud of. Erika was also a Halberg Award nominee this year along with ex-student and rower Zoe McBride. It is great to see our Kavanagh students performing so highly in the sporting arena.

We enjoyed meeting many of our parents and whanau yesterday at the ‘Meet and Greet’ afternoon for years 7-9. Communication is very important in any school and it was good to see this in action yesterday. Please remember that our door is always open and we want to hear what is going well or otherwise so that we can continue to improve our learning environment for your children. There are upcoming opportunities for communication about your child’s progress through the Parent and Student mentor meetings, and also the fortnightly ATLs that you will be able to access through the Edge app on Friday. I encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities so that we are all working effectively in our school – home – student partnership.

This week we farewell Ms Vicki Cullen. Vicki has been our Director of International Students and Principal’s PA for many years. Vicki is leaving us to work more closely within her families’ business and we wish her all the best. Thank you, Vicki, for your service to our college.

On Wednesday we will be commemorating the beginning of Lent with a liturgy for the whole school. In our year of ‘doing the little things well’ we will be reminding students of the extras they can do for one another and for those in need in their local communities. These needs take on many forms and many are quietly hidden. Lent is a time of reflection that will help us focus on how we can give to others in small ways, and how we can reflect on our behaviours to become better members of our families and the communities we live and work in. This reflection gives us some ideas!

What to Give Up:

Give up complaining - focus on gratitude

Give up pessimism - become an optimist

Give up harsh judgments - think kindly thoughts

Give up worry - trust Divine Providence

Give up discouragement - be full of hope

Give up bitterness - turn to forgiveness

Give up hatred - return good for evil

Give up negativism - be positive

Give up anger - be more patient

Give up pettiness - become mature

Give up gloom - enjoy the beauty that is all around you

Give up jealousy - pray for trust

Give up gossiping - control your tongue

Give up sin - turn to virtue

Give up giving up - hang in there!

Have a wonderful weekend

Kate Nicholson