By Nick McIvor | Posted: Wednesday July 3, 2019
Time for me to sign off. This being my last newsletter. It’s a strange feeling really. An odd sensation.
Five and a half years feel like they’ve raced by. Mainly because they have. A lot has passed. I arrived in January 2014 with my family as strangers to the school and district. We now leave feeling firmly part of both. Our Timaru time will stay with us for years, cherished, and TBHS especially, a school that has a way of getting under the skin of all those it embraces and captivates. Something Old Boys and long term TBHS families and supporters will understand perfectly.
Before heading South, I’d like to make some acknowledgements.
I’m grateful to all the boys who were so open to new learning and achievement, and prepared to bring a positive effort and drive for excellence to their studies, co-curricular activity, and service. There have been so many fine young men in the school.
I wish to express appreciation of all the staff who went the extra mile to challenge and support our boys effectively to know and do new things that they may otherwise not have experienced or valued. Our staff have influenced the futures of our boys in profound ways.
I’m indebted to the hundreds of parents and volunteers who put their weight behind the school in different capacities, to work for the boys and each other since 2014. Some much of our holistic education would not have happened without it.
I’ve enjoyed the warmth and wisdom of the Old Boy community, and those people who’ve advocated for the school and promoted its interests well outside the school gate. This inter-generational aspect of our school is a true point of difference and special strength.
On the path we’ve travelled at TBHS since 2014, I’m particularly proud of how well we’ve worked to live the school’s POWER values; to individualise and innovate our teaching; to raise our academic standards and expectations; and to find new ground in the arts and sport. In short, to become even more of a school of opportunity and involvement for young men, with greater diversity, belonging and betterment for all. I’m also proud of how we’re even more ‘of our community’ and ‘for our community’, with good character education at the core of the school given the curriculum, practices, and relationships we’ve developed.
I leave also knowing that the school’s leadership will be in the capable hands of Deputy Rectors Ross Stevenson and Rod Sparrow and Acting Deputy Rector, Steve Blair, in Term 3. A new Rector will arrive in Term 4 to find the school continuing in good heart and ready for its next step up; to move from ‘very good’ to ‘truly excellent’ if the current path is trekked for the next few years.
Timaru Boys’ is a place where we help people to grow and to reach or exceed their potential. For the young men we’re privileged to receive, it’s a place where New Zealand’s future is being determined; of which we should feel highly optimistic given the calibre of the young men we’re producing.
It's been a pleasure working with and for you, and I wish you success for the rest of 2019 and your sons’ futures out there beyond it. I’ll be pleased to watch the school’s next phase of development from afar (well not really that far away when you think about it). All the best. Take care. I hope things go well for you from here.
