Comments from the Principal 18.3.22

Kia ora e te whanau
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Two years ago, we would never have been as conscious as we are now of coughing or sneezing in public. If you cough or sneeze in the supermarket, people instantly take a step away from you and you even wonder yourself, could I have Covid? The sneeze is probably related to dust in the air and the cough is probably related to wearing a mask all day! Two years ago, a sneeze or a slight cough was nothing to worry about it, in fact we probably didn’t think twice because it is a normal part of being a human being.


Thinking about this in terms of the pandemic, Covid has and continues to make us all think differently about things. Whether it is something as small as “what does this sneeze mean?” or much larger dilemmas such as “what do I need to prioritise at this time?” or “how are we going to manage this?” Covid has certainly given us many opportunities to develop new skills and knowledge.


There are two ways we can respond to this. The first way is to be resentful about all the things we have missed out on as a result of Covid and focus on how much harder life is, or we can use the pandemic to make us better people and celebrate all our new ways of thinking and doing.

For example, prior to the pandemic I would have argued that you could never run a professional development workshop online. But do you know what? You can. I have learnt to participate online. In fact, I now find this easier than face-to-face. It is also cheaper and quicker than flying around the country!


Perhaps what we all need to be learning through this season is something Christopher Robin once said to Pooh: “Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” — Christopher Robin to Pooh, A.A. Milne.
We can’t control what the future may hold. The fact is we never could, but it seems to take a pandemic or natural disaster to remind us of this. What we can do though is control our response to what stands in front of us. We get to choose our next step.


In this season of Lent, let us give up being resentful and remember with hopeful joy that the Resurrection is coming.


Tara Quinney
Principal