Dear Parents, Caregivers and Friends of St Mary’s School,

Welcome back to the 2017 school year. I hope that everybody had a restful and enjoyable holiday.

While the weather has been inclement, to say the least, the summer holidays always give a chance for

families to spend quality time together.

The demands of modern living are huge and the focus that seems to exist now is on always being first or

biggest or best are stressful for all.

Over the break I have been away with a couple of sports teams, and I watched a number of young sports people compete. The ones who enjoyed themselves were the ones who were there because they loved the game. Correspondingly these were usually the players who achieved the best results.

As the great American golfer Ray Floyd said "if you love what you do then you never work a day in your life".

During the holidays our family (or parts of it) undertook some substantial road trips. One was from

Dunedin to Whanganui. During this time when my passenger slept I got to listen to a number of my

favourite artists. The words of one song I think give a message that we all should aim to live by is Glen Campbell’s "Try a little Kindness".

"If you see your brother standing by the road with a heavy load from the seeds he’s sowed.

And if you see your sister falling by the way, just stop and say, your going the wrong way.

You got to try a little kindness."

Powerful words to live by.

Have a great year,

Mike Brosnahan