Kia ora koutou.

We are now almost halfway through Term 2 which is traditionally the busiest time of the winter term with sports exchanges, cultural and arts festivals, weekly Waikato Secondary Schools’ co-curricular competitions, trainings, clubs, internal assessments, tutoring and the reporting on the academic progress of our senior and junior students in the day school. It can be a challenging time for many of our boys and staff as winter sets in.

We are all very proud of the positive way in which the boys have handled the change to winter temperatures, fewer daylight hours, the various school pressures as well as taking part in their own co-curricular activities. They have all managed themselves extremely well in what is a very settled Hostel environment.

MOE Teacher Only Day and Set Leaves: King’s Birthday Weekend and Matariki

This is a reminder the first Set Leave of Term 2 takes place this weekend. Due to the Ministry of Education Teacher Only Day scheduled for this Friday 31st May, there is no school for students on Friday. This means both Argyle House and Grove will close at 5.30pm, THURSDAY 30th May with parents and caregivers able to collect their son from 2.15pm on Thursday. Argyle House and Grove will re-open on MONDAY 3rd June from 5.30pm, after King’s Birthday Weekend. We look forward to seeing all our boys return safely on Monday evening 3rd June, with all boys expected to have returned by 7.30pm that evening, or by 8.00am the following morning. Please ensure you put in an Orah leave request for your son, despite knowing we are closed for the weekend, as this helps the Duty Master with boys exiting the Hostel and, more importantly, it allows duty staff to know when your son is due back, especially those on a restricted or full drivers license that are driving themselves back to the Hostel.

The second Set Leave for Term 2 is for Matariki, which is being celebrated on Friday 28th June, so Argyle and Grove will close at 5.30pm on Thursday 27th June, with parents and caregivers able to collect their son from 2.15pm on Thursday. We look forward to seeing all our boys return safely on Sunday evening 30th June when the Hostel re-opens from 5.30pm, with all boys expected to have returned by 7.30pm that evening, or by 8.00am the following morning.

Year 9 2025 Placements

39 families have received acceptance letters for Year 9 places in 2025, with a further 12 on our waiting list. The calibre of applicants was extremely high once again, which bodes well for next year.

Intentions for 2025

If your son is currently in Years 9 -12, then please download, print, scan and return the Intentions Form (see in newsletter article below) to Mrs Katrina McLaughlin by Friday 6th September. This will allow Hostel management to determine how many places need to be filled for 2025. Applications for Years 10-13 2025 Hostel places close on Friday 20th September 2024 with interviews arranged to fill the gaps thereafter. The prompt return of your Intentions Form is essential to enable the Hostel to offer placements for Years 10-13 as early as possible. Thank you for your support.

Fieldays

I know many of our boys from rural areas are looking forward to Fieldays during Week 7, as well as those boys that have never experienced Fieldays. You will be receiving an email from the school soon which will outline the school’s policy for boys attending Fieldays, which has worked successfully in previous years to minimise disruption to the school on Wednesday and Thursday of Week 7. All boys will attend classes as normal from Monday 10th to Thursday 13th June, and are able to take leave on Friday 14th June.
Our boarders are able to take weekend or overnight leave from 2.10pm Thursday 13th June. The school and Hostel will remain open on Friday 14th June and supervision will be provided in the day school for all Hostel and day students who attend school on Friday, as Hostel staff all have school commitments on this day.

If your son is in the Hostel on Friday morning and is not attending Fieldays, then he will be required to meet at the school library from 8.45am where he will spend the day completing an academic programme and participating in PE lessons. He will return to Argyle for lunch at the normal time, with the school day concluding as normal at 3.15pm. The Hostel remains open all weekend.

All Hostel boys are able to attend Field Days on Friday with their friends by catching a bus from Hamilton Transport Centre (corner of Bryce & Anglesea Streets) which departs every half hour between 7.00am – 11.00am, returning to Hamilton Transport Centre every half hour between 1.00 – 5.30pm.

Catching a Hamilton City bus is FREE to the Hamilton Transport Centre, and then FREE out to Gate 1 at Fieldays. Gate 1 is located on Mystery Creek Road.

To use the free BUSIT services during Fieldays, a valid Fieldays ticket must be presented to the driver. Others will have to pay. Visit busit.co.nz or phone 0800 205 305 for more information and the regional bus timetables.

All Fieldays leave requests must be entered into Orah, including who your son is going with and how he is getting there.

School Ball - ‘A Winter’s Waltz’

The annual HBHS Ball is being held on Wednesday evening, 26th June (Week 9), at the Wintec Atrium. Only Year 13 students may attend. Doors open from 7.00pm and close at 7.30pm. Students cannot leave early. The last dance is scheduled for 10.55pm and the Ball concludes at 11.00pm, with everyone having vacated the building by 11.15pm. The cost is $160 for a double and $80 for a single ticket and can be purchased from the School Shop.

As the Duty Masters at Argyle and Grove are off duty from 10.00pm and the Hostel has bedded down for the night, all Year 13s that attend the Ball will be required to find alternative accommodation for the evening. This has always been our policy and the boys will be given advance notice. All Year 13s will be required to return to the Hostel by 8.00am the following morning, ready to complete their normal school timetable. It is a special occasion, organised by the Cultural Prefects of HBHS, which celebrates all Year 13 students' final year at HBHS. The theme is 'A Winter’s Waltz’'.

HBHS Open Day

The HBHS Open Day is scheduled for Tuesday 25th June. This is a very special day where the school showcases all that it has to offer both in curriculum and co-curricular areas.

Matthew Allen Cup

The Senior Leaders, Prefects and Junior House Leaders are doing a tremendous job leading the boys and running the Matthew Allen Cup events, in conjunction with Senior Master, Mr Rahiti Teokotai-White, that precede the school House competitions. The Matthew Allen Cup competition between Bennett and Sutherland began as a one horse race with Tom Martin’s Sutherland House leaping out to an early 8-point lead only for Henry Seavill’s Bennett House to claw their way back into the competition winning the last two events, giving an overall lead to Sutherland by 12-8.

School House Competition

Argyle placed second overall in Cross Country, second in Volleyball and first overall in the Tug-O-War. House General Knowledge commenced today. This keeps us in first place overall in the House standings after 8 events, 10½ points ahead of Wilson House. We have Chess, Indoor Football, Indoor Rowing, Service, Haka and Singing to look forward to in Term 3. The final event of the 2024 House competition is House Basketball, which commences on Wednesday 16th October, Week 1 Term 4.

Final Day Of Term 2

The end of the school term concludes on Friday 5th July. You are free to collect your son from 2.15pm through until 5.30pm when the Hostel will close for the term, at both Argyle and Grove. There will be no evening meal on the final day of term.

First Day Of Term 3

The Teacher Only Day recorded in the term planner/calendar has now been cancelled. We will look forward to seeing all our boys return safely on Sunday evening 21st July when the Hostel re-opens from 5.30pm, with all boys expected to have returned by 7.30pm that evening, or in exceptional circumstances, by 8.00am the following morning. The first day of school in Term 3 is Monday 22nd July.

Ngā mihi

Murray McKenzie

Director of Boarding

021 516 477