Principal's Message

The letter sent to you all by the Board Chair yesterday was greatly appreciated by the staff. I am immensely proud of the wonderful job our teachers and wider staff are doing. Remote learning is not easy. Individual emails to and from students is a big commitment when some staff may have more than one hundred students they teach, and yet this is a method many have chosen to use, to keep the individual relationships and feedback on track. Video meetings cannot replace a face to face conversation nor the warmth of the relationship between student and teacher in the classroom. From feedback shared with me, this is what our teachers are missing the most and needless to say, we are looking forward to being back on-site as soon as we can. I would like to express my gratitude to all of you, as parents, who have engaged so willingly with your children’s’ learning and have supported them and us in a true learning partnership. I often speak of the importance of home-school partnership, but our current situation has lifted this to a whole new level! While I have said that remote learning is not easy, I am also very aware of some real gems that have been found through this new method of teaching. I know that this is going to create rich conversations for our community when we return to school and think about how the future for learning at Kavanagh could look.

While we try to carry on with normal school programming, you will have received a survey to help with parent voice for the two departments we are reviewing this term. I would appreciate if you have time to fill these in for us – thank you. Also, remember to look out for your child’s fortnightly snapshot reports that will be available at the end of this week.

I am writing this prior to receiving the information promised to the education sector regarding moving to Level 2. We have begun some planning about what this can look like within our college and are now waiting on guidelines form the Ministry of Education before we go any further. Thank you for your patience as we work through this process. Moving to Level 2 is not going to be easy and there are many different ways we may be able to manage this. Comprehensive information will be sent to you next week once we have more direction from the government and when we have systems and processes sorted.

May is known as Mary’s Month in the Church calendar. It is a time when we remember the Blessed Virgin Mary’s special place in the life of Jesus. It is always very special to celebrate Mother’s Day in this same month and have the reminder to reflect on the special place of all mothers in our world. To all the mothers in our college community – thank you for what you do and enjoy a special day on Sunday rich with blessings.

It Would Have Been -

It would have been comfortable to decline....but a young girl said yes.
We too have the Lord's invitation to be open not only to his presence but also our challenges this term.

We remember the yes of Mary

It would have been comfortable to stay in familiar surrounds....but a young girl went into the hill country.
We too, have to be ready to leave the security of the moment.

We remember the journey of Mary

It would have been comfortable to have her child in a well ordered setting....but a young girl gave birth in a common shelter.
We too have our people in need; the lonely, the hungry, the victims of violent times.

We remember the involved woman who did not choose to remain on the sidelines

It would have been comfortable to remain quiet when others were in need....but a woman raised her voice.
Our community is in need of our many gifts.

With Mary, we stand together in gratitude and rejoice in the gifts we share through her.  We have many rivers to cross, but we are not alone.  We ask that the spirit of Christ which is not a spirit of timidity or fear, but a bold spirit of life, truth, joy and grace be with us this term.

Ngā mihi mahana

Kate Nicholson

Theme for 2020 “Do the little things well’

‘Ahakoa he iti he pounamu’ (Although small it is highly treasured)