Good afternoon, School. Please be seated and welcome to everyone who is joining us via livestream today.

I’d like to invite Deputy Head Prefect Sam Bartram to deliver today’s reading

Today’s reading comes from 1 Peter Chapter 4: Verses 7-11

The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

This is the word of the Lord

Thank you, Sam.

Rectors Comments:

Today we have invited three very recent old boys back to the school so that we can celebrate their achievements in the 2021 NZ Scholarship Examinations. So a special welcome to Finley Duncan, Zachary Fitzgibbon and Ben Sloan for taking time out of their schedules to join us today.

These young men, along with 12 others set a new record for Lindisfarne College by attaining a total of 36 Scholarships in total and for a school of our size that really is astounding.

You’ll note that our old boys were accompanied into the auditorium today by four Year 13 students: Dylan Barker, Matt Buckeridge, Quinn Le Lievre and Oliver Taylor. These young men also achieved NZ Scholarships last year as Yr 12 students. So we wanted to acknowledge their successes along with our old boys. Unfortunately 8 others couldn’t make it today, mainly because they have already set off for university in different parts of the country, but we will celebrate their achievements as well.

NZ Scholarship is the hardest exam offered to secondary school students by NZQA and it’s a superb achievement to achieve a Scholarship.

Of our 36 Scholarships, 4 were marked at the Outstanding level. The Scholarships were awarded across 15 different subjects, and I think it’s testimony to our excellent teachers right across the curriculum that we achieved scholarships in so many subjects.

This year we decided that we would invite our old boys back to school to celebrate their achievements, even though we knew we would not be able to get them all here. And that’s because it’s critically important that we take the time to acknowledge academic excellence at the College at every opportunity, but especially when it occurs at the highest level.

Whilst we have the opportunity to celebrate the successes of Yr 11 and Yr 12 students in NCEA when they return in the new year, by awarding academic ties to Yr 12s and colours to Yr 13, along with Rector’s Citations at both levels, we don’t usually get the chance to celebrate what our Yr 13s have achieved, and for many NZ Scholarship is their ultimate goal. In 2021 these boys showed incredible determination and perseverance all year to achieve these fine results.

Before we acknowledge these young men formally, I want to introduce to you a concept that captures the essence of what these young men have achieved. It’s a word that was first used by Ancient Greeks to capture the notion of Excellence of any kind, and that term in Arete.

Arete is the act of living to one's full potential and in doing so achieving excellence. The ancients linked the concept of Arete to bravery, but more often with effectiveness. The person of Arete is performing at their highest level of effectiveness.

It is someone who can employ all their faculties – social, intellectual, emotional – to achieve a life well lived or to live bravely. It is the act of using to the fullest the abilities and potentialities within ourselves. Arete is a wonderful concept for you to think about today as we celebrate these young men’s achievements because it’s a chance for you to reflect on the extent to which you will live a life of arete in 2022.

The great thing about arete is that it’s not about possessing incredible abilities, thought there are incredible abilities in this room. It’s about using the abilities you have to their absolute potential and therefore maximising your ability to live an extraordinary life. Before, I said that the ancients linked the concept of Arete to bravery. So it’s about having the courage to pursue your dreams and goals and it’s about having the determination to live up to your absolute potential.

Today we acknowledge the achievements of 2021. I’d also like to acknowledge those in Yr 13 and in Yr 12 last year who attempted NZ Scholarship and fell short. I admire you for this because you were showing characteristics of arete. You already had plenty of other NCEA Leve 2 or 3 examinations to challenge you. You no doubt had the lure of holidays or work or rest tempting you to not to try Scholarship, but you had the courage to give it your best shot. I hope you continue to show that attitude this year and I hope you are joined by more of your peers who may not have thought about attempting Scholarship, but if we are to beat this incredible record of 36 Scholarships, we’ll need more of you to step up, to push yourself and to truly achieve that sense of arete in the academic cornerstone.

So I congratulate all our special guests today and I wish them well in their 2022 goals and in their futures, which I am sure will be filled with more challenges and undoubtedly more success.

I’ll now ask Mr Barry to read out our Scholarship Recipients and we’ll acknowledge those young men who are with us today.

It’s now my pleasure to invite Finley Duncan to say a few words on behalf of all Scholarship recipients.

Thank you Finley. We’re now going to have a musical performance from, coincidentally, one of our Scholarship winners, so I’ll invite Quinn Le Lievre up to play us a piece of piano.

Thank you Quinn. That was outstanding.

I’ll now hand on to Yr 13 Dean Mr Kidd to continue with the Yr 13 Assembly.

Article added: Thursday 17 February 2022