Tena Koutou Katoa

They say that time moves more quickly when you are enjoying yourself.  Hopefully that is a positive indication for the College as we have found ourselves at the end of the term in what seems to be a blink of an eye.  This has been a great term for the College that has been capped off by a number of very positive events.  Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Bishop’s Shield Competition at St Kevin’s, Oamaru.  It is always good to get together with the other schools of the Diocese and build those bonds that tyie us together as Catholic schools.  The standard of our students at this competition was excellent and I commend those students that received individual recognition and those that won team events.  I was tremendously proud of our students for the way they represented the College and the way in which they mixed with students from the other schools.  I would like to thank in particular those staff that led this event.  Miss Suzanne Whatley, Mrs Brigid More and Mrs Catherine Fabre for their hard work and the huge number of hours put into preparing for, and attending this event.

We held our College Colours Assembly on Wednesday.  It was wonderful to see so many family members at the assembly to support the success of the students of the College.  The Colours Assembly recognises outstanding students achievement in NCEA along with outstanding achievement in extra-curricular activities over the last six months.  Each year the number of student receiving recognition grows.  I mentioned in my address at the assembly that the increasing number of students recognized over the past few years should not be seen as a sign that success is common or easy.  Indeed this success reflects the students of the College have lifted the bar for themselves and the community and this increased success has come as a result.

I also made mention that we can be very proud of an NZQA analysis of the achievement of all schools in Invercargill and Southland that shows that Verdon College’s achievement is 12% above than this local average at NCEA Level 1, 6% above than the local average at NCEA Level 2 and 4% above the local average at NCEA Level 3.

I would like to thank the whole community for their work in supporting the goals of the College this term and wish you all a happy and restful term break.

God Bless

Jarlath Kelly