Kia ora, School. Please be seated. 

I’d like to invite Year 7/8 Prefect Charlie Wenley forward to deliver today’s reading  

Today’s reading comes from James Chapter 1, Verses 2-4  

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

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

Rector Comments:     

Thank you, Charlie. 

Today I’m going to share what I think are some inspirational words that were said by Admiral William H McRaven in a speech delivered to graduates at the University of Texas over ten years ago – it was his former university. In his speech, Admiral McRaven talked through 10 lessons​ he learned from his basic US Navy SEAL training. SEALs are members of the Navy’s special operations force, trained to operate in all environments (sea, air, and land).  

His speech was turned into a book entitled “Make your Bed – little things that can change your life ….. and maybe the world.” I’m going to share just two of McRaven’s lessons with you today. Why only two? Well, partly because we’ve only got time for two because of everything we’ve got to get through in assembly, and partly because it’s up to you, if you are interested, to go and research the other 8 lessons. For those of you who are interested in leadership and growth, I encourage you to look them up. 

I’m going to read out the exact words that Admiral McRaven said in his speech.  

Lesson No 1 

“Every morning in basic SEAL training, my instructors, who at the time were all Vietnam veterans, would show up in my barracks room and the first thing they would inspect was your bed. If you did it right, the corners would be square, the covers pulled tight, the pillow centered just under the headboard and the extra blanket folded neatly at the foot of the bed. 

It was a simple, dull task. But every morning we were required to make our bed to perfection. It seemed a little ridiculous at the time, particularly in light of the fact that were aspiring to be real warriors, tough battle-hardened SEALs, but the wisdom of this simple act has been proven to me many times over. 

If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right. 

And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made — that you made — and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better. 

So boys I encourage you to take up this advice tomorrow morning. It’s great that it’s a Saturday because that might be day when your parents or boarding masters might cut you a bit of slack and allow you to make your bed a bit later. So even more reason to get up and make your bed and then move on to another task after breakfast that’s meaningful and purposeful.  

Ok and now I’m going to skip to the last lesson Admiral McRaven gave. In the previous 9 lessons he described the tortuous training programme that Navy Seals go through in training. He described the long runs, long swims, including a 2 mile  night swim in a harbour, obstacle courses, hours of strenuous exercises. 

He described something called “circus” that was two hours of additional exercises designed to wear you down, to break your spirit, to force you to quit. 

The ninth week of training is referred to as “Hell Week.” It is six days of no sleep, constant physical and mental harassment.  

So this is Lesson 10. This is what he said: 

“Finally, in SEAL training there is a bell. A brass bell that hangs in the center of the compound for all the students to see. All you have to do to quit is ring that bell. 

Ring the bell and you no longer have to wake up at 5 o’clock. Ring the bell and you no longer have to do the freezing cold swims. Ring the bell and you no longer have to do the runs, the obstacle course, the circus — and you no longer have to endure the hardships of training.  Just ring that bell and it all goes away. 

“But if you want to change the world,” Admiral McRaven said, “don’t ever, ever ring the bell.” 

I hope none of you have to ever go through the training regime that Admiral McRaven went through, unless you have a dream of being a Navy Seal, and I don’t want to suggest that you should put up with all hard things in your life if it’s not good for you because sometime it is the right thing to do to walk away from a situation that is unhealthy for your, but I hope you all get the point McRaven is trying to make. The point I take from it is that there will be tough times in our lives, tough days and weeks when we have to dig in. They might come in the form of sports challenges, examinations and assignments, difficult tasks at work in the future, tough challenges with family, relationships and friends.  

Remember to believe in your ability to be resilient and strong and stay the course, and you will push through and you will be stronger for the experience. 

Check out the rest of Admiral William H. McRaven’s famous speech “Make Your Bed” if you’d like to learn more about his 10 lesson that can change your life ….. and maybe the world. 

Please join me in singing the hymn Highways in the Heart.  

HYMN   

Rector Comments: 

Thank you, please be seated.  

I will now invite Assistant Rector, Mr Cournane, forward to announce the Student Councillors for 2025 and I’ll present them with their badges: 

Mr Cournane speaks: 

In 2025 Lindisfarne College has re-established our Student Council. This Council is a platform through which the voice of you, the students of this College, can be heard. The Council will meet twice every term to discuss issues associated with student wellbeing, school culture and tone, and look to make recommendations about how we can make the College even better moving forward. This Council will be supported by Mr Chatfield, the College's Guidance Counsellor, and will be chaired by wellbeing prefect Niko Sawyers and deputy head prefect Angus Scott. 

Could the following members of the Student Council please come forward to receive their badges: 

Niko Sawyers 

Angus Scott 

Isaac Chou 

Matthew McPhail 

Isaac Dann  

Thomas Boyes 

August Popadich  

George Dorward 

Xavier Fitness  

Liam Pentreath  

George Pogson  

Leo Baker 

Magnus Jones 

Pink Shirt Day 

I would also like to take this opportunity to firstly thank you all for the way that we as a school came together on Pink Shirt Day to clearly show that we will not tolerate bullying in our community, and that we will speak up, stand together and stop bullying.  As a part of this day we ran a House competition based upon the House that both contributed the most to the Refuge and was the ‘Pinkest’ on the day.  This competition was judged by Bronwyn from the Refuge. 

In 3rd place was Cuthbert, with Oswald in 2nd and the award for first place going to Aidan House.  Congratulations to all students but especially to the boys from Aidan. 

Rector Comments:  

Thank you, Mr Cournane. I’ll now invite Cultural prefect, Jiten Ravla, forward to update us on the latest arts and cultural news.

Cultural Report 

Bible Reading Competition This week, on Tuesday, the year 7/8 round of the bible reading competition was held. 26 boys competed in this. The competitors had to choose a bible reading, explain the meaning of the bible reading, and make a personal connection to the chosen bible reading. Congratulations to all boys who competed, but especially to our place winners. Leo Baker received first, with Gabriel Miranda second, and Levi McEntee and TJ North both tied for third place.  These boys all received a voucher from Bless You Books in Hastings. Thank you to Pastor Josh for adjudicating the event.  

Big sing On Wednesday, the combined Lindisfarne College and Hastings Girls Choir competed in the New Zealand Big Sing competition at Toi Toi. These boys and girls have been working towards this competition since the start of the year, and it was a great achievement to reach this competition. Chris Proctor noted that the experience and the build-up to this day were a great experience, and a lot of valuable learnings were gained. The choir was directed by Mrs Suzanne Russel, and put forward an impressive sound, representative of a long time spent rehearsing. 

Rock Quest Last Saturday night, the band ‘Kind Regards’ performed at the Rock Quest regional finals at ToiToi. The band consisted of students from Lindisfarne College, Taradale High School, and Woodford House. The band played two original songs: “On My Mind” and “Left and Right.” The night was a great opportunity for the students involved to perform and to hear some of the other bands from the area, which were incredible. Well done to ‘Kind Regards’ 

Youth concert on Sunday Last Sunday, two of our chamber music groups, The Ludwigsfarne Trio and the Klengel Trio were invited to play at a youth concert at St Matthew’s Church in Hastings. It was an awesome way for the boys involved to share their music with other like-minded people from the area and grow as musicians as a result of this concert. Well done Josef, Ethan, Max, and Oscar. 

House Music 

This is a reminder that there is less than two weeks until the house music competition in week 9. Here are some tips from Mr Kristensen to help you perform well…  

Memorize the words for your house song and other songs as soon as possible 

Listen to your backing track and the song 

Get organized now and practise together for groups like rock band and instrumental ensemble.  

Have fun and be courageous and confident.  

Thanks, boys, that is all for this week’s cultural report. Have a great weekend. 

Rector Comments: 

Thank you, Jiten. I will now invite Sports Prefect, Matt McKendry, forward to update us on the latest Sports news. 

Sports Report 

In Basketball Ardie Smith represented the Hawkes Bay U 18 Development team in early June in the BBNZ Zone 3 National qualifiers against all Central Region teams and the team was unbeaten. 

In Football The 1st XI produced an outstanding performance on Friday evening to beat St John’s, Hastings 6-0 whilst our 2nd XI and 3rd XI secured good wins against St John’s as well, winning 11-0 and 1-0 respectively. 

In Hockey It’s been a busy few days our 1st XI hockey team who played HBHS on Monday evening. It was an outstanding game, tied up at 2-2 until one minute to go when HBHS scored the winner. An outstanding game of hockey and most pleased to see students out in numbers supporting the boys. In other hockey results, our Intermediate A team produced an outstanding performance in beating Hereworth Year 7&8 10-1. 

In the Whanganui Collegiate Exchange The annual Whanganui Collegiate Exchange took place on Wednesday with about 130 students and staff involved. It was an outstanding day, weather aside, with the results as follows: 

Rugby 

1st XV                  Won 36-15 

2nd XV                 Won 29-22 

U15                       Lost 17-36 

Football 

1st XI                    Won 5-0 

Colts A                 Won 5-1 with James Ogborn scoring a hatrick 

Hockey 

1st XI                    Won 4-0 

Colts A                Won 10-1 

In Cross Country Our Cross-Country athletes travelled to Gisborne to compete in the ECNI Cross Country Championships last week with August Popadich finishing 6th and Noah Hemmingson securing a spot on the podium finishing second. 

Note We wish the 1st XI football team well for their National Tournament qualifier against Hastings Boys High School this evening. We extend our best wishes to all students who will be representing the College this weekend in fixtures across multiple sports codes. 

Rector Comments: 

Thank you, Matt. Congratulations to everyone whose been recognised today. 

Reverend Dunnett, will now close our assembly in prayer.  

Article added: Tuesday 17 June 2025