By D Thorp | Posted: Wednesday December 4, 2024
Kia ora Old Boys
It’s the 2nd last week of school - we are nearly there. You will all, no doubt, remember what it was like at this stage of the year and will sympathise with our current Year 9 and 10 students. Learning fatigue is setting in and the days are starting to drag. The summer holidays are beckoning but a week may as well be a year!
Of course, we really try to make things more engaging these days. There are lots of activities, outings and competitions. Today I watched a Haka battle between 2 Year 9 classes - it was very intense! The teachers are reviewing the year and the Senior Leadership are creating timetables and hiring people for 2025. There is very little in the way of ‘winding down’ going on.
2024 has been good overall, starting with our best academic results for a long, long time. In sport, our Rowers and Hockey players were superb again. We picked up a bag of medals at the Maadi Cup in Twizel, with two boys going on to row for New Zealand. The Hockey 1st XI played their 2nd Rankin Cup final in as many years. Unlike 2023, we didn’t get to take the cup home (we lost in the penalty shoot out) but the silver medal was still an outstanding success. Sport at Boys’ High is in good health with the participation numbers through the roof. I truly believe that our commitment to sport is the driving force behind the remarkable rise in our roll, which has climbed from below 600 in 2020 to a predicted 805 starting in 2025.
Some bad news now - our much loved Deputy Rector, Ross Stevenson, tragically died during the year. He was far too young and it was extremely upsetting for everyone. Our thoughts go out to his family.
We have hosted a number of get-togethers for old boys this year. Recently, I showed a group of old boys around who were all in Form 7 in 1964. They had lunch in the Memorial Library, went on a tour of the school and then enjoyed themselves out on the town. If you would like to organise something like this for your own year group, feel free to get in touch with me - we would be happy to help facilitate any get-together. It’s still your school and you are always welcome here.
Scientia Potestas Est.
