Comments from Principal

 Kia ora tatou
We have a big weekend for St Peter’s College and you are all most welcome to join us. A significant number of our teams are involved in netball semi-finals at the MLT Stadium on Saturday and our 1st XV play Verdon College at St Peter’s on Saturday for 3rd and 4th place after a close loss in the semi-final last weekend. I know that all these teams would love your support and encouragement as they compete hard this weekend.
At the same time, we host the 75th Bishops’ Shield Public Speaking Competition this weekend. Below you will see a copy of the programme from the very first competition in 1944 which, except for St Kevin’s, involved different schools which have since closed and amalgamated to become Verdon College and Kavanagh College, along with us as ‘newcomers’ in 1969. Of course, the Bishops’ Shield Competition is not the only one of its kind in New Zealand. Each Catholic diocese has its own public speaking competition – Pompallier Shield in Auckland, Chanel Shield in Hamilton, the O’Shea Shield in Palmerston North and Wellington, and the Bishop Lyons Shield in Christchurch. For any of us who attended Catholic Secondary schools throughout New Zealand, these highly prestigious and intensely fought for competitions are special memories and I am sure that the public speaking skills and confidence developed during these competitions have launched many a career throughout the years!  We welcome the other three schools in the Dunedin Diocese at 7pm tonight at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Ardwick Street. Please join us tonight or at any time during the weekend to support our students and to be entertained by some impressive public speaking. I wish to acknowledge Mr Brendan Terry (DRS) and Mrs Nikki Cunningham (Arts coordinator) along with all the staff and students who have put hours of work into preparing for this event. Please join us for a special Bishops’ Shield Mass at 10am on Sunday morning.
On Wednesday, we will hold a liturgy at 8.45am in the college hall to commemorate Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is an important day in the Catholic liturgical calendar and any parents in our school community are most welcome to join us for this. There will also be mass at the parish church that day for families who wish to attend this – check the church newsletter and the Gore Parish Church Facebook page for times.
I hope to see you at the church, stadium or rugby sidelines at some stage during the weekend! Go St Peter’s!
Nga mihi nui

Kate Nicholson 

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