Proud grandparents flock to College

01 Jun 2018

They love, support, sometimes finance and always follow with huge interest the progress of their grandsons, so Grandparents’ Day at College is always a time to be celebrated.

This year’s event on Friday 1 June saw more than 100 grandparents arriving on campus mid-morning for a Chapel service with their grandsons, who then took them on a tour of the school followed by morning tea.

Grandparents from as far as the Hawke’s Bay were on hand, the vast majority however coming from the city and throughout Canterbury, filling the Chapel to hear Chaplain Bosco Peters speak about “and”.

“You become a grandparent when you have a grandchild – you need to have both the older and the younger,” he said, drawing an analogy with College’s system of innovation and tradition, new and old.

College was not a 19th century English boarding school - “not a Hogwarts” - but a 21st century school operating within the context of a global village, he said.

Its architecture was based on the traditional quadrangle indicating the need to make space in our lives for contemplation, and College today encouraged spirituality, culture, social emotional development and physical growth, and mindfulness.

“For us the quad and the Chapel are traditions. We represent innovation and excellence wrapped in tradition.”

The Chapel service opened with the school’s waiata and featured music by the Schola Cantorum. Head Prefect Max Goodwin and Deputy Head Prefect Toby Brooker-Haines gave the readings.

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