Resilience presentation inspires Director of Sport and Co-curricular Activities, Mark Lane
Sport and Co-curricular Activities
New Director of
Helping St Andrew’s College students to become ‘better tomorrow than they were today’ in their various sporting and cultural pursuits is a key focus of new Director of Sport and Co-Curricular Activities, Mark Lane. “There are lots of important life learnings when students get together in teams or groups and strive for a common goal. If they can walk off the field or stage knowing that they have all tried hard and given 100 per cent, that is a culture people want to be part of.” Sport is Mark’s passion. He is a former professional cricketer, having played for Wellington, Central Districts, Canterbury, and the New Zealand U20 side. He was also in the New Zealand Junior hockey team. For 12 years, Mark was employed by New Zealand Cricket in various roles, including a five-year stint as General Manager of Community Cricket. Although Mark’s new role is focused on sport and culture, he also has a strong academic background – coming to St Andrew’s College from Christchurch Boys’ High School, where he had taught Mathematics since 2014. Mark was also highly engaged in the school’s sports programme, serving as coach of both its First XI cricket and First XI hockey teams.
Early in Term 1, staff and parents had the privilege of attending an inspiring presentation delivered by Dr Sven Hansen, founder of The Resilience Institute. Through his esteemed career, Dr Hansen has developed significant knowledge around the themes of resilience and human performance. His presentation introduced the audience to some of the important physical, emotional and mental strategies that help humans to progress in life. Head of Well-being and Positive Education, Kerry Larby, says the St Andrew’s College community is benefiting greatly from its ongoing relationship with Dr Hansen and The Resilience Institute. “It is vitally important that our community develops a shared understanding and vocabulary of well-being and Dr Hansen has certainly enabled this.” Research shows that resilient people connect with others, have an optimistic growth mindset and are engaged and focused in life. They do not fall into patterns of worry, selfcriticism, fatigue and overload. Kerry says the ‘outstanding’ professional learning gained through the association with The Resilience Institute is forming the basis of the next phase of St Andrew’s whole school well-being goal of cultivating resilience in our community. “Last year, a group of 26 staff volunteered to participate in an Innovation and Research Group focused on resilience. As part of this, they used an app to track and measure their own resilience. The group’s progress between pre and post measurement was celebrated as ‘outstanding’ compared to other companies The Resilience Institute works with around the world. This had a powerful impact on the resilience of our staff participants.” Following ‘resounding’ feedback, the staff Innovation and Research Group has decided to continue to explore the theme of resilience in 2020, with ongoing access to The Resilience Institute app, at a individual and organisational level.
He is excited by the ‘fantastic challenge’ as the new Director of Sport and Co-curricular Activities at St Andrew’s, and has been impressed by the ‘supportive, positive, forward-thinking’ culture at the College. Most of his Saturdays have been taken up with visits to sports sidelines, team trials, or watching various other cultural or co-curricular activities. “It’s been great to meet lots of people in the parent community, and I’ve enjoyed seeing the engagement of students across many different activities.” Maintaining the important sporting and cultural traditions at St Andrew’s College is another key focus for Mark. “It all comes down to values and helping our students to understand that taking part in sport and cultural activities is a privilege and not a right. It’s important to keep our expectations high of young people when they represent the College, so they do it in the best way possible, both on and off the field.”
Dr Sven Hansen from The Resilience Institute in a presentation to staff.
