Kia ora koutou,
We have had a lovely day at school today and the support offered by other schools, outside agencies, ex colleagues and ex students and of course, our community, has been heartening and inspiring. I say inspiring because incidents like yesterday’s are very complex. What we know is that a person felt that the best way to express his disaffection was to potentially take that out on a school in a horrible, destructive way.
I hope Police are going to be able to work with this individual and any other people involved in a way that will strengthen their connection to the rest of us so that we don’t have repeats of yesterday’s events. We have got so much better as a society at including so many diverse groups but we still have a long way to go. Events around the world and this one remind us that we need to address why some feel as disaffected as they do and how we can redress.
Treasure your family, your friends and other people around you over the next few weeks and spend time talking to your young person about these incidents and how we can help those that are feeling disempowered at the moment.
Ngā mihi
Dominic Killalea
Principal