Congratulations to Mr Eddie Murphy who has been appointed the Director of Boarding at St Bede’s College. This is an executive position at St Bede’s and they have made a very good appointment. While Eddie will be a loss to School we are delighted that his appointment will enable us to continue to build our relationship with St Bede’s. 

Congratulations too to Daniel O’Brien who has accepted the role of head coach of the Coca Cola Red Sparks who play in the Japanese Top 14 Rugby competition. At the end of Term One we also farewell Mr Lyndon McEntee and Mr Adrian Matthews.

I was recently a guest of Kanto Gakuin School in Yokohama. The principal of Kanto Gakuin an independent, Christian school wants to promote international experiences for his students and has chosen Christchurch Boys' High School as the New Zealand option for his students to study with. Students will pay fees to Christchurch Boys’ High School and attend for a period of time of their choosing. As part of the arrangement our students will be able to study at Kanto Gaikuin for no tuition fee and I would welcome enquiries from the families of any students who wish to investigate this opportunity.

Transformational experiences such as visiting overseas countries while at school can change lives. A particular strength of Christchurch Boys’ High School is that we have as part of our calendar transformational experiences that heighten our impact as a school. The ANZAC service is a key event for School. It will again be held in a marquee in front of the Memorial Shrine, Year 9 students will be expected to attend and the entire school and wider community is welcome. I do hope that seniors are using the My Blueprint App introduced by Mr Webster in the last newsletter. All seniors are expected to know how many credits they have at any time. The school’s review of our results has shown that students who do not track their credits are at a far greater risk of failing NCEA than those who do and that central to success in NCEA is the practice of being specific and targeted with regard to revision. I remember the Dean of the Auckland School of Medicine giving students at Wellington College advice that to succeed they needed to find out exactly what was required and deliver.

I would like to pass on my thanks to the school’s Board, and in particular the Board Chairman, Senior Management and administration and teaching staff who supported me during a period of recent ill health. I do love being part of our very caring community.

Altiora peto

Nic Hill

Headmaster