News Archive

The Remarkable Class of 2026,

 

On opening day – marking your first tentative steps at Shawnigan – you stood between the two tree sentinels up there, at the top of the amphitheatre, for a photograph with your family.

 

Today, you have walked out of Mitchell Hall, past the bronze stag, under the stained-glass window with our school crest, through the Main Building, under our motto, Palmam Qui Meruit Ferat, on the arch, down the steps, past the sentinel trees, and into the Schieldrop Amphitheatre – in many ways coming full circle on your time here at Shawnigan.

 

Over the last couple of weeks, we have completed phase II of the amphitheatre – you will have just walked over a stone slab engraved in golden letters with the Founder’s Prayer, which you heard in Chapel before lunch: “It is not the beginning, but the continuing of the same, until it be thoroughly finished, which yieldeth the true glory.”

 

You are at the point today – Closing Day – of being “thoroughly finished” at Shawnigan.

 

And today – June 20 – is Midsummer’s Day.

 

I was thinking last night about the end of year awards ceremonies, our school motto – Palmam Qui Meruit Ferat (Let the rewards go to those who have worked to deserve them) – the Shawnigan Journey, inspirational teachers and coaches, report writing and much more.

 

In a recent Senior Leadership Team strategic away day off campus, I asked each member of my team to write down the name of a teacher or coach who had inspired them when they were at school – and to share with us more about the individual teacher and why he or she had made a significant difference to their life. I suggested at the end that each member of the Senior Leadership Team write to the teacher (or his or her family) – decades on – to express gratitude for the encouragement, support and inspiration and to tell them, even now, that their influence continues. It is, after all, never too late to say thank you.

 

What struck me most was that Mr. Mayes (Class of ’89) chose not to highlight an inspirational Shawnigan teacher but instead told the story of a science teacher in the 1980s who had actively discouraged him from taking chemistry in Grade 12. Mr. Mayes had loved chemistry from an early age, inspired by a Christmas gift of a chemistry set.

 

Today, June 18, is written into the history books as the day in 1815 when Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo.

 

Our founder, C.W. Lonsdale, loved his history books – and of course our School Motto is taken from the Napoleonic wars and Admiral Horatio Nelson’s coat of arms.

 

This evening, we gather together in the Schieldrop Amphitheatre (with the Lonsdale statue looking down upon us) for one final time for the end-of-year-major awards – and simply to be together.

 

Tomorrow, our Grade 8s through to Grade 11s are returning home, with a special Closing Day planned for our Grade 12s on Saturday.

 

I do want to mention – in front of the whole School ­– our gratitude to our leavers: the Class of 2026, and other students off for new adventures. Some of our wonderful German and Mexican students return home and we hope one day to welcome you back. We feel a combined sense of loss and happiness as you step beyond our world towards your own futures.

 

Saturday, February 7, 2026

 

Dear Little Mermaid cast and crew,

 

It was such an absolute joy to be in the McPherson Playhouse on Friday evening (with the Board of Governors) and again on Saturday afternoon. I enjoy seeing the production from different angles – the stalls down below on Friday to the highpoint of a box seat above the stage and orchestra pit on Saturday.

 

There was so much energy, imagination and creativity bubbling through the musical: the choreography of performers, the personality brought to each character, the live orchestra, the superbly conceived set and stagecraft, the artwork (including papier-mâché salmon) and banners in the foyer, and much more.

 

It was a wonderful performance. I am convinced that somehow each musical gets better and better each year (perhaps as my memory of past productions fades).