The Final Week at St Paul's

Last week was an emotional and exhausting week for Craig as he completed the last of his farewells to the St Paul's Community.  On November 29, Craig drove down to the Tihoi Venture campus for the Final Lunch and Prizegiving for Tihoi Intake 2014/2.  Tihoi will hold a special place in Craig's heart with its focus on the outdoors and experiential learning.  On the morning of December 1, the St Paul's community welcomed back the Tihoi 2014/2 Intake to the main campus and farewelled Tihoi Intake 2015/1.  It was also the morning for the Junior Prizegiving and Year 10 Graduation to the Senior School.

The Tihoi Campus

That night, St Paul's had its annual Christmas Service of 9 Lessons and Carols.  It is one of Craig's favourite services of the year.  The choir were phenomenal as they sang several beautiful anthems and the students sang amazingly well as they always do for special occasions.

The morning of December 2 was the final assembly for the whole school community.  Craig and a fellow colleague who was leaving, Nick Clothier, treated the school to a bit of Canadiana by singing the Barenaked Ladies song "If I Had a Million Dollars."  Despite Craig's limited singing abilities, the song was a big hit and a fun way to say 'Goodbye.'

That night was the Leaver's Service, where we said farewell all the school leavers, in particular, those in Year 13.  Craig preached his final sermon called '6 Things I have Learned at St Paul's.'  The students sang their favourite hymns with incredible passion.

December 3 was the Prizegiving.  The highlight of that Prizegiving was the students honouring the Headmaster, Mr Grant Lander, with a very emotional haka as a tribute to him as he takes a leave of absence to deal with some health issues.

Craig will miss St Paul's greatly.  It is a fantastic school, and, more importantly, a fantastic community.  It has truly been both a blessing and a privilege to work there.