Principal's Message

It has been a wonderful week seeing familiar faces, new faces, and the many parents who have been in the school to help with course confirmation and other ‘start-up’ processes. Many of you have also seen and commented upon the new admin area that was refreshed over the holiday period. While we still wait for a few finishing touches, we are very pleased with our lighter, brighter and much more inviting front office area. Thank you to our property team of Iain Davis and Brendan Jarvie who put the wheels in motion and had everything ready for us to begin the year in our new space.

And so, we have made it!

After many months transitioning, we are now officially known as Trinity Catholic College. At the very end of the year, a gathering was held to commemorate the 34 years of Kavanagh College. It was a poignant and sad occasion, with Bishop Michael Dooley celebrating Mass followed by a morning tea for those ex-staff and Board members who travelled quite some way to say goodbye to Kavanagh College. Last weekend also carried some sadness as we met before dawn on Saturday morning to acknowledge and reflect upon the reason for our name change, and to symbolically walk with all the survivors of abuse in the Church as every classroom, office and space was blessed with holy water from Lourdes in France, Wellers Rock (the site of the first Mass in Dunedin) and from Toitū, the stream that runs down Rattray Street.

But now we begin the year looking forward with joy, at Trinity Catholic College. Our young people have contributed so positively to a wonderful start as we welcomed our new students formally with a mihi whakatau on Wednesday morning. Our Opening Mass yesterday morning was a celebration of who we are under our new name, and it was an opportunity to celebrate the prefects as they received their badges from Bishop Michael. You can see photos of this celebration in the newsletter this week.

As I mentioned in my email to the school community last week, we have three new staff joining us this year. Kirsten Lloyd is working part time in the science department. Kirsten most recently was head of biology at St Mary’s College, Auckland. Bronwyn Lewis, who worked here part time a couple of years ago has returned to us after some time at Kings High School, and she will be teaching foods and materials. Courtenay Barnes was in school last year as a reliever and a one-on-one mentor, and she is teaching a year 7 class this term. These staff will introduce themselves via the newsletter during the next few weeks. Mr Peter Drury has let us know that he intends to finish his role at the end of week 8. Mrs Liz Naylor is covering this gap in the science department until another appointment is made.

Thank you for ensuring that your children are well organised, look tidy, and come to school with a positive outlook. There has been a very happy buzz around the school in the last couple of days – thank you for your part in this.