Our 2023 Academic Committee Prefects are indeed, outstanding in their field...

The Academic Committee has not been afraid to get their hands dirty in order to achieve their goals and is aiming to support all HBHS students in their academic endeavours. Leader of the Academic Committee, Samuel Priest, reports on the year.

Reflecting on the academic year of 2023, I am filled with immense pride and gratitude as I recount the collective efforts and achievements of the Academic Prefect Committee. It has been a remarkable journey to lead a group so inherently committed to fostering academic excellence and camaraderie among the students of HBHS.

On the first day with my committee, I was quickly approached by Mrs Hassall with the looming question of how many scholarships we were going to receive this year, and somewhere between my eagerness to impress, and failure to realise the seriousness of her question I blurted out “easily over 100”. It was only upon later consideration I realised the heftiness of the goal I had just set for myself and my committee, but nonetheless, we stuck to it. As a committee, we were determined not only to advance our school up the standings in scholarship rankings, but we also wanted to have a bit of fun with what was widely considered the least fun thing of all - learning.

So in came Term 1, and with it, our first set of tutoring initiatives. We aimed to use this term to set up effective and helpful services for students that would run throughout the year in assisting them with their studies and homework. To do this, we harnessed the manpower of our Academic Honours students, along with a collection of overly eager Year 12s who wanted to impress the Executive, and kicked off our Homework Help centre, along with the various lunchtime tutoring groups. These sessions would then run smoothly throughout the entire year, with noticeable spikes in the weeks and often days before exam periods as we attempted to teach entire syllabuses in a matter of hours. Notably, exam time saw the coming and going of our Argyle tutoring sessions, which were run under the advice of Mr Thomson in times of high demand.

Having set up what seemed to be enough tutoring services to keep the entire school in check, we began to look for a few more fun initiatives to run within the school. This started off with the ALP Quiz, which tested the minds of our top junior students in a range of categories, and what proved to be an overwhelming success with over 20 teams showing up to compete. We essentially used this quiz as a test run for our inter-school Trivia Nights, which we had decided we would be holding in Terms 2 and 3 with HGHS and Waikato Diocesan respectively. With the announcement of these, we saw a surge of interest from students within the school (likely aided by the choice of schools to collaborate with), and received sign-ups from over 200 students for each quiz. In our normal display of dominance, HBHS took out all 3 podium positions on both nights, securing our spot at the top. Trivia nights like these helped to bring a little enjoyment into the academic year, and were great fun to organise and run.

Back at school, we also found ourselves busy with the likes of the ALP Parents Evening and class visits, both of which saw us transform into walking salesmen for this academic pathway through the school, as we recounted to students and teachers alike how we survived the onslaught of the Cambridge and NCEA programmes. Similarly, we were tasked with helping to organise and run the annual Scholars Evening, which brought in numerous successful Old Boys to share some of their experiences and advice with the Academic Honours students.

During the latter part of Term 2 and the beginning of Term 3, we engaged in a series of initiatives, both new and familiar. These included the World Refugee Week Quiz, our Library Week, and the Māori Language Week challenges and competitions. Additionally, we celebrated the return of the esteemed Students vs Teachers Debate. This year, our student team triumphed, overcoming Dr Williams’ slanderous attack on our Head Boy, Hamish.

However, after all this came what we called “the business end of the year” - when suddenly our 100-scholarships goal seemed all the more terrifying. To ease the omnipresent sense that this goal was unattainable, we set out to start our scholarship preparation sessions and advertisement. With the help of some effective marketing and social media posts, we rallied in around 300 scholarship sign-ups this year which should hopefully convert into a plethora of passes. Senior exams came and went with minimal hours spent in bed, and we could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

So on behalf of the 2023 Academic Committee, I wish everyone the best of luck for their exams and the future, and congratulate you all for the outstanding work you have put in this year. Thank you to everyone who supported the committee, and particularly to Ms Ashby, for her invaluable support and guidance throughout the year. To my committee, it has been a pleasure to work with you, and I could not have asked for a better group of lads to share this year with. I look forward to hearing we smashed the 100 scholarship goal at next year's assembly, and to seeing HBHS continue to push our way up the rankings past the Auckland schools and to the top.

Thank you for what has been an amazing year HBHS,

Samuel Priest

Deputy Head Prefect and Leader of the Academic Committee

Prefect Profiles:

Samuel "Polyploidy" Priest

Quote: Fraser: "I don't know how to make a cow sound"... Hamish: "Just imagine you're about to be milked"...

Favourite Memory: Coming up with more and more ridiculous excuses to evade Ms VJ's homework checks...

Future Ambition: To one day beat Alex at something... anything... (I'm desperate)...

Kyle "Ridiculous" Barker

Quote: "It's just a model, don't question it"...

Favourite Memory: MMC Cultural Festival…

Future Ambition: Beat Thomas ter Beek in a Marathon…

Dhruv Khatri

Quote: "All the shorties at the front... Dhruv I'm not looking at you" - Dr Williams

Favourite Memory: Biology with Sir Andrew Tucker…

Future Ambition: To one day enter the “import” market…

Devesh “D-man” Kumar

Quote: "Better to cheat than to repeat"... 

Favourite Memory:Me and bae at Open Day (see above)...

Future Ambition: Tech support...

Alexander “No-scope” Mayo

Quote: “Trash will always be trash. Though it may be recycled, it will inevitably become trash once again” - Fuyi Li

Favourite Memory: Morning COC in the Library…

Future Ambition: Tax fraud…

Ashvin “Bricks” Peiris

Quote: “Do the mahi, get the treats”...

Favourite Memory: Breaking Dylan Brown’s ankles in lunchtime football…

Future Ambition: Jacked doctor…

Hithen "Hit-man" Raaj

Quote: "Do men lactate?" - Rivin Sharma

Favourite memory: Fuyi being constantly opped by Dr Charteris...
Future Ambition: To lat raise my body weight...

Thomas "Beekie" ter Beek

Quote: "Are your socks too big or are your calves too small?" - Dr Williams

Favourite Memory: Spending an entire Year 10 Maths lesson analysing stair memes on the projector…

Future Ambition: To beat Sanad Kawar in an arm wrestle and to grow over 6 foot (Currently 5'7'')...