I’ve been on the road this week, travelling around the region. The journey has been framed by belonging and connection, and the powerful concept I talked about extensively last term, whakapapa. You’ve heard me reference Owen Eastwood’s interpretation that each of us is part of an ‘unbreakable chain of people going back and forward in time’, and that this ‘chain of people have our arms interlocked with those on either side of us.’ We are ‘unbreakable’, he argues, and ‘Together, Immortal.’
I go back to Eastwood’s work and that quote because it encapsulates the shared and ‘sacred identity’ and culture of John McGlashan College that brings together and binds people of different generations - past, present, and future. Belonging is an essential part of being human. We thrive on connection and connection to something bigger than ourselves. You can’t take that for granted, though, and need to be intentional in creating the opportunities to foster it and for people to feel it.
I’ve seen and felt it in spades over the past week or so as I spent a night last week with the Year 13s at our second campus Te Kūwaha Mātauraka, and the day there with the Year 9s on Tuesday. It has also been the pervasive thread at the Southern Field Days in Waimumu, where I’ve been with Drew Campbell (Director of Boarding), Kirstyn Sandall (General Manager), and Nigel Hunter (Deputy Principal) for the past three days.
These reflections about connection and belonging were initiated last week when I was fortunate to spend a night at Te Kūwaha Mātauraka, where our Year 13 cohort was based for their leadership camp. It’s always such a privilege and quite humbling to be in that wild and beautiful environment. It is becoming an integral part of the McGlashan experience, and I enjoy seeing our young people thrive in the experiences and challenges they encounter there. This was on show when I arrived on the last day of the leadership camp. The boys were in the midst of the inaugural adventure race, and the campus and its environs were a hive of organised chaos and activity across the afternoon. Our value of Manaakitanga was on show as the boys worked together and pulled each other along through the challenge and stretch moments of the race.
We gathered the boys together after dinner, and I talked to them about leadership, specifically what they wanted to be renowned for, individually and collectively, as leaders this year. They talked about what they were going to commit to and the legacy that they wanted to leave as a group. We focused on the importance of being yourself, and a quote by Ivan Cleary (Penrith Panthers) about leadership. Cleary said, ‘If you look over your shoulder and there are people following you, you’re leading them. It means they believe in you. It’s not what you say that matters most, it’s what you do. People always notice that.’ The camp brought about connection, cohesion, and purpose for our Year 13 cohort, and now we look forward to them leading us forward.
I journeyed back to Te Kūwaha Mātauraka on Tuesday morning, this time to visit the first of two Year 9 groups that were in situ. As we bring together half of a year-group who have been with us since Year 7, and new day boys and boarders, these camps focus on connection, based on empathy and inclusivity, and fostering an individual and shared sense of belonging. This is the beginning of a new journey for all of the boys. Our second campus provides the environment for them to stretch and challenge themselves and to uplift one another. I spent the afternoon with a group kayaking and fishing on the lake. The weather was wet, and there was a decent swell on the lake. Many boys had not fished or kayaked, but leaned into the challenging conditions and visibly grew in confidence across the afternoon. The myriad photographs on the school’s Facebook page attest to this being enhanced during the week.
The road trip continued that evening, when I headed to the outskirts of Invercargill, our base of operations for the three days at the Southern Field Days at Waimumu. While there is a marketing aspect to this for us, focused on the boarding house, it is also an opportunity to engage with our extended community. The experience here has been a special one. As I write this foreword behind the McGlashan tent, with a grey sky and lightly falling rain, I’m reflecting on the past two days and how whakapapa is a living and breathing entity. Our tent has been a hive of reconnection and new connections. We have been warmed by the number of Old Collegians, of all vintages, who have stopped by to catch up and reminisce. Parents and whānau of current students have also joined us, as well as enthusiastic and fantastic prospective families, one with their six-year-old son who shared his determination to join us when he is in Year 9. As we conversed with the family, we were joined by an 86-year-old Old Collegian who was keen to find his name in the History and Register and share with us his recollections of what boarding used to be like. Past, present, and future - an ‘unbreakable chain of people going back and forward in time’.
Later today, we continue the journey and head over to Omakau for the 128th Central Otago A & P Show. I feel fortunate to be part of the McGlashan community. The conversation and connections this week have been defined by the deep sense of belonging that people feel to the shared identity and culture of our school.
Dr. Aaron Columbus
Principal | Tumuaki
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