At Lindisfarne College we are committed to providing a safe and caring community for all. We know that if this safe and caring community is our reality then our staff and our students will be able to thrive in their work and in their education. However, we also know that we live in a world where there are all sorts of threats and obstacles to our wellbeing that can challenge our capacity to thrive.  By providing a proactive approach to supporting student wellbeing we believe each student will have the best opportunity to achieve to their potential in the time they have with us, and beyond our school gates.

In order to work with our families in pursuit of this goal of a safe and caring community for all, we will be sharing with you each fortnight some advice and guidance about how to best support your son’s wellbeing.  Please do not feel like we are trying to teach you how to fulfil your role as a parent, but rather see this section of Life at Lindisfarne as another way that school and home can connect in support of our boys.

In this first edition, I would like to briefly explain how we as a school are defining wellbeing so that we are all on the same page.

Wellbeing can be seen using the metaphor of the whare, or house.  The house requires four strong walls to remain a solid structure, able to withstand the tests of time.  These walls represent the dimensions of our wellbeing, and if we only focus upon building strength in one or two of these dimensions (walls) at the expense of the others then the sturdiness of our house is compromised.  Put another way, our wellbeing and resilience is severely compromised.

The first of the four dimensions is Taha Wairua, or our spiritual wellbeing.  This encapsulates our Christian Cornerstone, our special character and our faith, but it is also about our direction and purpose in life.  It is about supporting our boys to understand their beliefs and values, and live their lives according to these.

The second dimension is Taha Hinengaro, or our mental and emotional wellbeing.  Simply put, this dimension includes all of the things going on in our ‘top two inches’.  It is about our feelings, our emotions and our ability to recognise, make sense of and manage these things.  Of particular importance in this dimension are concepts such as self-esteem, resilience, vulnerability, and courage, all of which are so essential for our boys to be able to ‘step into the arena’ and risk failure in the pursuit of success.

The third dimension is Taha Tinana- our physical wellbeing.  The place sport and physical activity plays in our lives is key here, but so are all of the other things we do on a daily basis to maintain our physical bodies.  This includes, but is not limited to, our nutrition, sleep, hygiene, hydration and skin care.  Often people get absorbed by this dimension at the expense of all others.

Finally we have taha whānau, or social wellbeing.  This dimension deals with the quality of our relationships and interactions with other people in our lives.  It is about the strength of our relationships with our family, friends and other loved ones, but it is also about the respect and care we show for other people that are not necessarily in our direct circle of existence, but that we come across in our lives.  When our boys are strong in this dimension they will be young men of character, committed to building others up around them rather than breaking them down.

It is this final point I will close upon.  In order to proudly claim to have a safe and caring community for all at Lindisfarne College, we need all young men prepared to come to school with the motivation to make others experiences of the school day better, not worse.  We need young men that are prepared to not only tolerate difference, but also celebrate and empower those who are different to be themselves.  We need young men who are prepared to stand up, speak out and act to prevent harm to others rather than allowing negativity to exist.  Evil can only happen when good men do nothing.

Stay well.

Mr David Cournane (Assistant Rector - Pastoral) 

Article added: Monday 13 March 2023