Prizegiving 2009

Nau mai haere mai ki te tino whakahirahira nei

Nga mihi nui  ki a koutou katoa

Talofa lava, i matua, malo le soifua.  Afio mai.

 

I give great greetings to one and all on this important occasion.

Tonight I want to address the role of a Catholic school in the Edmund Rice tradition as a bridge to the future and to farewell a man of the bridge, a free thinker in the best of Irish tradition and a man of deep humanity.

We are challenged by the Congregation for Catholic Education in its document "The Catholic School on the Threshold of the Third Millennium" to be a place of hope, a sensitive meeting point in this restless age", in other words to be a shelter house for the hopes, hearts and aspirations of the young people in our care.

If we thwart human potential, if we quench human spirit, if we fail to deal equitably with each other as human beings - we betray that mission.

So what would we say matters in an Edmund Rice school? What matters is set out very clearly in the vision of Edmund Rice education in Oceania. 

Our vision for our students is that they

• v Are engaged in service and solidarity with others, especially those on the margins
• v Are conscientised to the reality of the world and the root causes of injustice
• v Have a deep sense of the spiritual in their lives
• v Relate to others in a compassionate way
• v Take ethical stances in all their endeavours
• v Are hopeful that a better world is possible and that they can actively contribute to its realisation

The challenge for our schools is to create the bridge between the world we have now and the world that can be, so that we can claim our curriculum as truly transformational in creating a more human world.

By definition, if a vision is to transform it must challenge the status quo and current practice.  In Catholic schools our vision is traditionally embodied in the dreams of the order's founder and has a profound influence on our integrity.  This charism has usually been counter cultural and alternative because of the social dynamics of the time at which it was forged.

Our founder was an Irishman of compassion who challenged the established order and sought to provide hope for the boys of Waterford who were poor, marginalised or homeless.  He gave them hope for the future through a philosophy of liberation and possibility. He outlawed corporal punishment which was radical for the day, he fed and clothed the boys, nourishing their bodies and minds.

It seems fitting then that we are able to celebrate the same spirit of freedom of thought and compassion in formally farewelling Gerry Kelly, our Director of Religious Studies and Special Character. Gerry has given his entire working life to the mission of the Gospels. He left his homeland in Ireland at the age of 24 to land in Christchurch and his career has spanned wild West Coast schools, Verdon College in Invercargill and St Thomas'. How fortunate we have been to have had a man of deep theology and intellectual curiosity leading us in this area for the last 20 years.

I cannot think of a person who more embodies the ideals of Edmund Rice education articulated earlier - engaged in solidarity with others, conscientised to injustice, possessing a deep spirituality, compassionate, ethical and hopeful for a better world. Gerry is a man of hope - the process of transformation requires people with courage to get out on the bridge, who can think in new ways and challenge the accepted order.  It is often a difficult and lonely task, so much easier to settle for half-felt complacencies and intellectual compromise.  He is a man of wide and diverse reading and knowledge with the substance to speak out.

Gerry is a talented lawn bowls coach and Burger King purveyor.  He is a man with great love for his homeland and the wild beaches of Carnloch in County Antrim - near the Giants Causeway and Old Bush Mill whiskey - Gerry says you can breathe it in the air. A man of reconciliation who believes everyone is allowed a way back from transgression.  A man of wisdom who seeks to develop decent human beings in his classroom.  A man of consummate wit delivered in his own inimitable style and Irish accent.  A man who has made our school a place of hope and a sensitive meeting point in the restless lives of all those students whom he has encountered.  Above all, a man of peace. 

Gerry we will miss your leadership, your gentle contribution to our staffroom and to our leadership team. We wish you all the best in your retirement and we thank you for the huge contribution you have made to the young men of St Thomas'.

What could be more fitting to end with other than a favourite reference of Gerry's to another Irishman, Oscar Wilde, who said "Education is an admirable thing but it is worth remembering from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught."  Rather, Gerry would say, it is learnt through living with each other.

Fa'afetai lava. 'ia manuia le afiafi. Soifua.

Kia kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui

No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa