By D. Thorp | Posted: Friday September 27, 2024
Crikey! We have made it to the end of Term 3.
It has been a very difficult term, due to the untimely and tragic passing of our Deputy Rector, Ross Stevenson. However, as Ross would have wanted, we got on with the job of educating 750 boys.
Many of the Year 10 and Year 11 parents will have heard their sons talking about the CAAs (the literacy and numeracy tests that sit alongside NCEA). These tests are a little bit cumbersome as they cut across all of the other learning that the boys are doing. Unfortunately, they have become one of the most important tests that students will do while attending High School. TBHS, like all other secondary schools, is working hard to get our students up to the standard required to pass these tests and we are making real progress. The great thing is that, for the next couple of years, the students can also pick up their NCEA literacy and numeracy from a number of different assessments. It’s possible that the Government may make more changes in this area - we will keep you informed.
What a great season of Winter Sport we have had this year. There have been some wonderful results right across the spectrum. One particular highlight was the Hockey 1st XI’s amazing run at the Rankin Cup in Tauranga. They went all the way to the final and just lost it in a dramatic penalty shoot-out to Tauranga Boys College. Either team could have won it and while there was some understandable disappointment, our boys gradually came to the point where they could appreciate the scale of their achievement. Over the last 5 years Timaru Boys have shown that they are the best performed school in national secondary Hockey, making a quarter final in 2022, being runners up in 2019 and 2024 and winning the Rankin Cup in 2023. Amazing stuff!
The haka is back!! As I said in the last newsletter, Mike Reihana and Hami Goldsmith from Te Aitarakihi have been working with all of the Year 9s (and, on occasion, the rest of the school) to reinvigorate haka at Boys’ High. They have done a great job and it warmed my heart to see over 500 boys doing the haka on the sidelines during the Otago Boys’ and Waitaki Boys’ interschools. It was awesome and we can only get better from here.
Our school exams have come and gone and the turnout was good. There are only 5 weeks before the NCEA external examinations start. All students from Year 11 to Year 13 who have examinations, should start their revision now. A little each day is better than 2 days of cramming. Get on to it, boys!!
See you in Term 4. Roll on the summer weather!
