Thank you to everyone who has supported us, quietly given words of encouragement, listened, given practical support, and trusted us, during the last two weeks since Enere’s death. It has taken its toll on staff and students, but to know we are part of such a caring and supportive community has made that easier. It was good to have an invitation for a small number to join the funeral, and then for many more of our young people to be able to join via the livestream link made available to Trinity. Thank you to the Otago Regional Council who provided a bus so our kapahaka group could travel together to the cemetery, and join in the graveside service with haka and waiata.

Many times we have asked the question “how would we do this if we weren’t a faith based school?” Our kids at Trinity are amazing. They rise to the occasion, they know how to care for one another, they understand that prayer, liturgy and talking about our faith, can be healing in times like this.

One of the emails I received last week was from Jeremy Simons, who wrote a piece which was also published in the ODT. Jeremy writes of restorative practice and the importance of a compassionate response in the aftermath of tragedy. You can read his article here. Thank you Jeremy, your message is an important one, and one we need to keep in mind as we try to make sense of what happened.

Although Enere had only been with us since the beginning of this year, he had truly flourished, and he had made so many connections across the college – as characters often do! His vibrant love of life, and the joy he emanated, along with the importance that people played in his life regardless of their age, gender, background, ethnicity, touched many in our school. He continues to remind us of the well known whakataukī ‘He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata he tangata he tangata!’ What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people.