Peter Boshier said the school had "failed to ensure the student was safe."

He called the Board of Trustees' response to the complaint Siobhan Harvey made about the bullying of her son "unreasonable".

Boshier recommended the Board of Trustees apologise to Harvey for the way the school handled the complaint.

And he called on them to review the school's harassment and bullying policies.

He was highly critical of an "independent review" into Harvey's complaint against the school.

The review had an anonymous author, was not signed or dated and did not inform parents or seek their input.

The Board of Trustees accepted the findings of the "independent review" and reported to Harvey they were "comfortable" with the way the college acted.

The ombudsman said it was regrettable that this is the third complaint that the office has dealt with in recent times.

"There appears to have been a failure by the college to deal effectively with this behaviour, with the result that it has taken a toll on the health of a student."

On Friday evening the new principal of Sacred Heart College, Stephen Dooley, admitted: "the situation in 2016 was not well-handled".

"We can reassure our school community that new initiatives will continue to be implemented to develop a much stronger and caring college."

He said a raft of changes had been introduced since 2016, including updated and clearly defined procedures for reporting, documenting and managing student and parent concerns.

He said there was now a network of support structures in place to ensure students felt they were learning in a safe environment.

"A more prominent emphasis is placed on anti-bullying messages, and creating more channels for students to report incidents of concern," he said.

Source

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Haiu was a also a former New Zealand under-19 and under-21 representative.

His career ended prematurely in 2011 when a rare form of bone cancer, Ewings Sarcoma, was discovered in his ribs.

He has been remembered as a great athlete and a loving family man at Sacred Heart college, the place where his athletic prowess first began to thrive.

"When Kurtis was 13 he left Whangarei to attend Sacred Heart College as a boarder," said Former team mate Onosa'i Auva'a in his eulogy.

"He was a star in the sporting arena, and was known as one of the fittest athletes."

He made the school's first XV in the fourth form as a 14-year-old."

"He gave the school his New Zealand Secondary Schools jersey, and was named sportsman of the year in his final year at Sacred Heart."

About 1000 mourners turned out for the funeral with coach Tana Umaga and captain Jerome Kaino leading the entire Blues contingent, while Keven Mealamu, Kieran Read, Michael Jones and Craig Innes were also in attendance.

"His greatest effort wasn't on the rugby field, it was fighting cancer," said Haiu's brother Leon in his eulogy.

"Kurtis refused to let on how much pain he was in when he was battling the disease."

"Because my brother was such a man's man I would try to never cry around him."

"I saw there his body emaciated, skeletal, his arms skinny, knowing he's gonna die and I just burst into tears, I couldn't control it."

"My brother got up off his bed even though he was weak as and hugged me and told me he loved me. I'll forever cherish those moments."

The service finished with Sacred Heart students and old boys performing a haka as Haiu's coffin was taken away to his burial at Manukau Memorial Gardens.

Haiu, who played 53 times for the Blues between 2006 and 2011, leaves behind wife Frieda and two young daughters.

Source

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• Image: nzherald.co.nz

But that's where a team of cross country runners from Sacred Heart College are headed.

The squad has qualified to compete at the World Secondary Schools Cross Country Champs in Budapest next April.

The selection comes after the team achieved the top result at the national secondary schools championship in Dunedin.

It is the first time a team from Sacred Heart has been selected to compete at a world event. Continue reading

St Peter's lost 22-24 to a last minute drop goal from Grammar, after battling back from an 11 point deficit with just 14 minutes remaining.

The Moascar Cup is the equivalent of the Ranfurly Shield for school first XV rugby in New Zealand.

The match, which was also a semi-final contest in the Auckland 1A competition, was shown live on Sky Sports' Rugby Channel on August 16.

A victory would have been the icing on the cake for St Peter's, which celebrated its 75th jubilee the previous weekend.

St Peter's beat Auckland Grammar 15-10 earlier in the season.

Another Catholic school, Sacred Heart College, lost to St Kentigern College 14-24 in the other Auckland semi-final.

Continue reading

Up of 1,200 supporters gathered on the Eastern Bays Sacred Heart College number one rugby ground to witness the giant, Tongan-born, 135kg prop who pulled off a sensational three tries last week.

Sacred Heart old boys, parents, and school students whooped with delight the moment Tupou — known as the Tongan Thor — touched the ball.

"He's got so many skills for a big boy," said Sacred Heart College old boy David Brenan.

"You rarely get a prop the size of him who can score two tries from halfway."