Assembly Notes - 13.03.26

Rector - Good afternoon boys and staff. Please be seated.

I would now like to invite Otis Hoggard to open with today's reading.

Bible Reading: Philippians Chapter 4 – Verse 6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." – Philippians 4:6-7

This is the word of the Lord – Thanks be to God.

Rector - Thank you Otis

I hope that you have all had a positive week. Over the summer break, I picked up Gilbert Enoka's book – Become Unstoppable. This book will be the theme I will use in some of my upcoming Assemblies. Interestingly, some of the concepts mentioned in his books were also mentioned by Jack Jensen on Wednesday.

Boys and staff, I want you to think of a moment when your heart was racing....the final minutes of a sports fixture and you are losing, waiting for your NCEA results to come out or you are about to walk out onto stage and perform in front of a few hundred people.... Under pressure, our brains can go HOT and get heated, overwhelmed and tense. Enoka's work with the All Blacks made a simple but powerful distinction. A distinction which is also discussed in the book Legacy. This being "red head vs blue head". When you are in red, you struggle to control yourself, your emotions, your decisions and your reactions.

When you are on in the blue, you are far more likely to make a decision that will add value. Being able to recognise when you are being reactive and shifting back to calm, clear, deliberate decision making makes a huge difference in everyday life, big performances, games, tests, job interviews and the list goes on. That shift can help you, if you are willing to work on it and try shifting to the blue.

I want you to reflect on a previous time where you may have been in a particular state. If you think of the red state.... what was your body doing, your mind and your breathing.....(pause). Now I want you to think of when you were in a blue state – What was your body doing, your mind and your breathing....

• Red state you will often see - fast breathing, tunnel vision, rash choices.
• Blue state you will often see – a person who is present, composed and accurate.
• The skill is, state management under stress and training your attention back to what matters right now. The All Blacks embedded routines and pressure practice in "the squeeze" moments, so the switch became automatic.

1. Two anchors you can use today

• Breathe 4×4: 4 seconds in, 4 out, repeat three times. This helps to reset your system.
• Silently name it: "I'm tense; I'm going red" What are things that can defuse me? There is a story of a famous All Black who would get up from the bottom of a ruck, he had been dealt to by the opposition in a way that lacked sportsmanship. He would then look up to the part of the stadium which he had chosen during the captain's run, that he could focus on, take a big breath and reset. He could clear in head when he was in the red.

1. Why this matters at Lindisfarne.

• Our Resilient & Self-Managing value says we steer our own course, stay focused on goals, and use experiences as stepping stones. Blue head is that in action, choosing a positive response over reaction.
• Our Christian dimension teaches courage and humility, strength under control. Managing our own state honours others and the task at hand.

I want you go back to a challenging situation, and I want you to reflect on these two quotes from Gilbert Enoka. Think in your mind what they mean to you.

• "Control the controllables" - I can think of myself as a 1st year University Student playing hockey in the Premier University Team. No one had taught me how to control the controllables. I would argue with the ref often about a decision. After receiving some good feedback, I made a good shift. "Control the controllables." - What does that mean to you?
• "Attention wins under pressure." In 2016 I was fortunate to coach the Hockey Team that won the national title – The Rankin Cup. The amount of learning the years before transpired into ensuring that players could pay attention under the most pressured situations. We were winning the final and went down with 5 minutes to play. With 20 seconds to play, we secured a penalty corner. We scored. In the full time huddle, we created calm and knew what we had to do next in drop offs. We had practiced all the scenarios. We won in drop offs. "Attention wins under pressure." - What does that mean to you?

Small activity I need everyone to play their part. I will shortly ask you to stand and Close your eyes.... I will say breathe in 1,2,3,4 breath out 1,2,3,4.... Please stand quietly....Close your eyes..... get ready to take a deep breath. Breath in – 1,2,3,4 Breath out – 1,2,3,4 - Breath in – 1,2,3,4 Breath out – 1,2,3,4 - Breath in – 1,2,3,4 Breath out – 1,2,3,4 – keep your eyes closed.

silently name today's pressure you have experienced.... silently state one process action...please be seated.

Outstanding – thank you for the way you have participated in this activity.

As I mentioned, I will look to relate a few things back to Enoka's book over the next few weeks. Ironically, it is interesting how his message links firmly to Wednesday's message about Spark that Chat.

Please now join with me in singing the Waiata - He Honore.

HYMN – He Honore.

Rector Speaks: Thank you school, e noho, please be seated.

I would like to welcome Sports Prefect, Andrew Wakefield up to present this week's sports report

Sport Report

Andrew: Good afternoon school, it is my pleasure to read this week's sports report this week.

In Rowing

Some of our rowers participated in the National Club Championships recently and achieved some pleasing results. These included a third-place finish in the Intermediate Coxed Quad and Coxed Four for Noah Layton, Ashton Bell and Angus Lovell; a third-place finish in the Novice Coxed Eight for Joseph Hayward, Will Hartgill, Ben McGregor and Bruno Follett and a third-place finish in the Mixed Coxed Eight for Charles Cropper and Zach Dorn.

Our boys competed in the North Island Secondary Schools Rowing Championships over the weekend and achieved some pleasing results. These included Noah Layton and Charles Cropper who came 2nd in U16 double A-Final and Noah Layton who came 2nd in the U16 single A-Final.

In Waka Ama

Three teams competed at the Hawke's Bay Regionals last weekend and whilst we are awaiting the final results, we can congratulate Kiato Buxton who finished 1st in the J16 W1 250m event and our Motutapu Whiwhia crew who finished first in the J16 W6 250m & 500m events.

In Canoe Polo

The Senior A & B canoe polo teams competed in the Regional Qualifier for the NZSS Championships and played Karamu High School Senior A in the final. The result didn't go our way but winning the silver medal is a commendable achievement.

In Golf

A few of our golfers competed in the Kapi Tareha tournament held at Napier Golf Course and achieved some great results. Cordell Henare secured 1st overall in the Men's Gross competition shooting 66, 69 and 70. His dominant performance saw him win by 15 shots. George Pogson placed 1st in the Under 20's Gross division and was 4th overall in the Men's Gross division having shot rounds of 73,74 and 74. Luke Jarvis placed 2nd in the Under 20's Gross division and was tied for 5th overall in the Men's Gross division having shot 74,77 and73. Well, done boys!

In Futsal

Our Junior and Senior teams competed in the Hawke's Bay Challenge Cup on Monday and Wednesday respectively. The Junior A team recorded a strong set of results to be crowned the 2026 Hawke's Bay Challenge Cup winners. Lachlan Smith stood out with an outstanding performance, earning MVP honours and finishing as the Golden Boot winner for the day. A fantastic achievement and well deserved for his impact on the court.

Having been unbeaten in pool play, our Senior A boys progressed to the final and in a hard-fought match against Napier Boys High School, went down 3-0 having beaten them 3-2 in pool play. Ziggy West-Hill was named the senior MVP of the tournament.

In Tennis

On Wednesday we had a few tennis players compete in the Derek Ward tennis tournament. It was a good day's tennis for both our juniors and seniors. TJ North reached the final of the Junior section, before losing to the top seed. Oscar Green was placed fourth in the Senior section, losing in the semi-final play-off. Other performances of note: Ryder Firth who won the Consolation draw of the Senior Section, playing two great matches in the process, and Oliver Kee won his play-off draw in the Junior Section.

In Tag

Ardie J Smith represented the Hawke's Bay Senior Men's team at the Senior Tag Nationals held in Auckland. The team progressed to the final and came away with the silver medal.

In Cricket

Magnus Jones took a hat trick in the game against Havelock North Volts.

In Shearing

Competing at the Golden Shears in Masterton last week, Cooper Ellingham and Lachlan Butler finished second in the MKM Originals Student Challenge.

Several of our students also competed individually in the Novice grade, which featured a field of 50 shearers including international competitors. Their results were: Campbell Ellingham – 15th, William Foster – 24th, Lachlan Butler – 27th, Cooper Ellingham – 28th and James Butt – 39th. Well done boys!

Rector Speaks: Thank you, Andrew

Congratulations to all those boys who were recognised today.

As we look towards the weekend, I would like to wish all of you who will be representing the College. Our Mountain Bike Team are currently away at Crankworx. On the weekend we will be hosting Whanganui Collegiate in a cricket exchange. On Saturday, our pipe band will be performing. On top of this, a number of other sports teams and groups will be representing the College. Please do this with pride and with good sportsmanship.

On Sunday we have our third Chapel Service of the term. It is important that you meet the expectations as a student in this important Cornerstone of the College.

Lastly, as we move next week, we will have another guest speaker. Please give them the same respect that we gave Jack Jensen. We will also begin to get into Haka practice. Work hard in this area, be respectful of this performance and do your best to learn this so that your house performance on House Haka Competition Day is one that you can truly be proud of.

I would now like to invite Chapel Prefect Jasper Jamieson to close our assembly in prayer.