A Message from our Principal

Truth (Pono) is one of our Trinity values and its context for us at Trinity is our faith. Part of our kaupapa or purpose, is to ensure that our young ones know the gospels, the messages that Jesus Christ shared with his followers, and the teachings of the Catholic faith - effectively the Truth that will support our direction in life.  The value of Truth came from the Dominican Charism (one of the three orders that contribute to the history of our college) where ‘veritas’ (truth) centres on the pursuit of the truth of the gospels.  It was a privilege for Dominic House to share the celebration of their House Day last Friday, with the Dominican primary schools in Dunedin and some of the Dominican Sisters who live in Dunedin. Thank you to Father Hook for leading our St Dominic’s Feast Day Mass with such joy and song.

This idea of Truth was certainly in mind this morning as I listened to media reporting on the radio. An interview with a government Minister speaking about the planned strike by PPTA members reminded me of the way ‘truth’ can be manipulated to suit one’s argument. Shortly after this, I heard a report about a De La Salle student’s reputation and wellbeing being significantly affected after bystanders reported to the media that he had been the cause of the recent fight between Auckland Grammar and De La Salle College supporters at a rugby game in Auckland. Unfortunately, one large media outlet was happy to report this bystander’s perception of the situation as truth, prior to it being completely dismissed by the rugby judiciary in what I know would have been a harrowing ‘trial’ to get to the truth. 

And so, what can appear to become acceptable is that Truth is what you want to make it. I acknowledge that perception and belief from one’s own viewpoint can constitute the truth for that person if there are no other viewpoints for clarification. Our Deans and Senior Leadership Team will spend hours working through an incident to ensure that the truth is as clear as possible. We always do our best to triangulate information, to check in with bystanders and those involved in an incident, and that the result of this is then shared and understood by all involved. This also constitutes Justice, another of our Trinity values. Staff attended Restorative Practices professional learning last week, delivered by an external specialist. It was a good reminder for all of us that the ‘truth’ of a situation needs working through using dialogue followed by the opportunity for the situation to be resolved in a restorative way where everyone feels heard and valued. This is why I am such a proponent of restorative practices. Our young people – and often our older people too! – need to practice taking responsibility for their own actions and learn to understand that their actions and words impact others. This helps us all to be the best versions of ourselves and that is what our Faith asks of us.

Ngā mihi

Kate Nicholson