As I write this comment I am sitting in the newly refurbished Big Room. I am thrilled with this facility and how the boys are using it. The Big Room is serving fantastically as a meeting place, a senior study centre and also in providing temporary housing for our library. Library book issues have increased dramatically after moving and the experience that we have had with the Big Room reinforces the importance of providing quality facilities for the boys. Spaces like these do send a message that we value the boys learning and they are respecting the space in turn.

The school of course is more than just buildings and as the excitement builds over the opening of the new Hall, we need to remember that it is people and stories that make communities. Supportive behaviour is the key to building community.

I recently attended a presentation from Peter Biggs the Chief Executive at Assignment Group and he talked about how cities are reinventing themselves. A lot of the lessons from the transformation of cities like Manchester can be applied to schools and other organisations.

Peter identified the principles behind the transformation of Manchester as:

1. A clear vision
2. Stable leadership
3. Constant innovation
4. Being outward facing and having connection with other cities
5. Identifying and building on strengths
6. Having world leading research and academia at the heart of the city.

Peter spoke about the new asset in a technological world being human capital and empathy being the key to a new leadership paradigm.

There are great messages here as we rebuild the school and also later this year embark on strategic planning for the next three years.

As a staff we are looking at how we can become more deliberate in teaching the boys how to move from surface to deep learning – we are conscious of the fact that you can’t think deeply about something you don’t know anything about. We have also been discussing how we can make sure that our curriculum is about high academic achievement and decent values.

Congratulations to the 1st XV for their brave performance against College. The players were very upset by the loss and still carried themselves with dignity. The support of the boys was positive and overall it was a fantastic day. The actions by some old boys at the end of the game did mar proceedings and the school will be in touch with them to voice its displeasure.

Well done to Year 13 and the Monitors for their organisation of the formal. This was again a superb event, without incident and I did over hear the security team speaking about this ball being the ball in Christchurch at which the students make the greatest effort with their outfits.

Thanks to the wider community for your continued support of the school. I do value the pride the boys show in CBHS and I look forward to the boys supporting the Student Executive’s request for a lift in the uniform which they have identified as having lapsed in recent weeks.

Altiora Peto