"Do not let what is out of your control interfere with all the things you can control."

The final year of high school is hard enough. Juggling exam study, co-curricular activities and leadership positions is a learning curve for any Year 13, especially when you are unsure if you will still be at school from a week-to-week basis! Despite another challenging year for anyone and everyone (thanks, COVID!) I am both proud and relieved to say that the Leadership Committee of 2021 has excelled in promoting Leadership and organising new school events at HBHS, despite factors that were ultimately out of our control.

Our Committee first met at our Prefect retreat at the start of the year, and we wasted no time brainstorming potential activity ideas. After a productive day of speeches, planning as well as some excellent stage acting, we as a Committee set ourselves the ambitious goal of providing opportunities for students to learn and foster key leadership skills, while also forming new leadership positions to benefit a wider range of students. We left the Prefect retreat excited to fill out our new roles, however we were served a word of warning - 'this year will go quickly. If you want to run any new events or activities, start early'.

One of our main goals as a Committee was to form new leadership roles that could not only aid in the organisation of school events but also aid in the development of more young leaders at HBHS. One such position we formed during the year was our school's 'Junior Captains of Code'. At HBHS, many sporting activities will have a 'Captain of Code' who will represent the best interest of their beloved sport at meetings with school staff in order to encourage participation and achieve great results. Our Committee wanted to form similar leadership positions for Junior students. Students presented with this role would have the opportunity to work alongside their fellow Senior Leaders in their respective sports, allowing for students to voice any concerns from a Senior and Junior perspective while also enabling Junior students to learn new leadership skills in their role that will serve them well later on.

Our Committee also identified the Multicultural Manaaki Centre as a area of our school with strong leadership potential. The Multicultural Manaaki Centre (MMC) has been tirelessly managed by Ms Shah (with the exceptional help of Mr Horne and Mrs Ross) year after year, and in those years a tight-knit community has formed amongst the former refugee members, and the mentors that aid them. Between the generous service of the mentors and the enthusiastic brotherhood of the members, the MMC was identified as a good target for new leadership positions. As part of a process to involve more students in the management of the centre, a select team of senior mentors has been identified to be Senior Leaders/Mentors of the MMC, with the role of planning, organising, and helping execute the various events and activities in the MMC calendar. Another role formed was the 'Leader of the Multicultural Manaaki Centre'. This leadership position will be given to a prominent leader of the MMC who will work with his fellow Senior leaders to positively promote the Manaaki Centre to the wider school community.

As well as forming these new leadership positions at school, the Leadership Committee also set about the formation of a new initiative at school - the 'Student of the week'. This was a weekly initiative we formed in order to promote students who were making awesome contributions to HBHS and the wider community. Often these students weren't recognised for their achievements, so it was a great way of promoting talent and, in particular, great leadership. For this event, we had teachers write out or electronically submit (using a Google form) a vote for this recognition, and each week at our Committee meeting we would pick a worthy recipient.

During Term 3, our final term of organising events as a Prefect cohort, the Committee strived to organise several guest speakers as well as some Lunchtime Leadership seminars to engage with aspiring leaders. These 2 events in particular are normally the central focus for a Leadership Committee, so naturally we were eager to succeed. Unfortunately for the lads, Term 3 was better known for online learning than it was for Leadership at HBHS, although in hindsight I still think we gave it a good nudge. We managed to organise some great lunchtime sessions and guest speaker seminars to engage with our students, however if given the chance for a redo, we would probably try and organise these events at a less disruptive (and disrupted) time of the year.

While our Committee was passionate about the development of Leadership throughout our school, we were also eager to organise some fun lunchtime activities to boost school morale. Our first scheduled activity - The Prefect Swimming competition - didn't quite go to plan, as a large thunderstorm proved to be too much of a health and safety hazard. Not wanting our hard work to go to waste, some prefects still braved a swim during this thunderstorm, in particular Adam Wilson, who was unalarmed by the streaks of lightning only a few hundred metres away. Our next lunchtime activity, the Prefect v Teacher Basketball match, was a much greater success, as staff and students alike packed Gym 1 to see a high-quality match sent to overtime. After a few minutes of sudden-death overtime, it was Keran Van Staden's clutch 3 pointer that sent the large crowd into a frenzy. Later on in the year, our Committee also organised the Prefect v Lion Mentor Football match. Despite having a seemingly weaker team on paper, it was the Prefects who prevailed over the Lion Mentors. This match seemed like the perfect preparation for our school's annual Staff v Prefects Football match, however, fortunately for the staff of HBHS, they were saved a few blushes by another change in alert levels. I don't even want to begin speculating what sort of scoreline our Prefect cohort would have tallied up against Team Staff. Perhaps it is best left to the imagination.

As one of our final actions of the year, we set about forming a Leadership Scholarship for students looking to improve their life skills. We wanted to form a scholarship fund, with the assistance of the HBHS Old Boys’ Foundation, that would fund the formation of ‘Leadership Scholarships’ for Year 11 and Year 12 students at HBHS to attend Leadership Camps, coaching lessons or retreats. Unfortunately, our Committee never got to see this initiative through to completion (damn you COVID!), however hopefully this is an initiative that could be seen to completion by next year's cohort of leaders.

On a more personal note, despite the many challenges and learning curves that have been thrown at us this year, I am thankful. I am thankful for each and every member of my Committee, whose key contributions this year have collectively added up not only our success, but to the wider success of our beloved school. To my fellow Committee members - Adam, Daniel, Morgan, Keran, Hanyoung, George and Ben - thank you for the hard mahi you have all put in . This year hasn't been without its challenges (sausage eating comp, sorry Kez) however I have continually been impressed by your resilience and quick thinking in the face of adversity. This can only bode well for you moving forward, and I have no doubt you will all excel in your chosen field. Good luck to you all. Thank you to our school teachers and Executive Staff that have supported us as a Committee this year, and a big thank you to Mrs Weston for letting us meet in her classroom at lunchtimes. It has been an honour to serve HBHS, and I wish the school, staff and its students the very best for the future.

By Matthew Clark Deputy Head Prefect and Leader of the Leadership Committee

PREFECT PROFILES

Name:  Matthew 'Own Goal' Clark

Committee:  Deputy Head Prefect and Leader of the Leadership Committee

Quote:  "At least Osama was wanted.”

Favourite Memory:  Bringing the Daily Notices to a Year 9 Assembly instead of my printed off speech. Oh, and social sport with the lads. Great times...

Future Ambitions:  Teach Varshil Chandra how to dance. To score a 'real goal' in football...

Name:  George ‘Siuuuuuu’ Chaplow

Committee: Leadership

Quote:  "George Chaplow is the biggest creature in Year 13." - Anonymous teacher

Favorite Memory:  Conor, Keegan, and I almost getting a Saturday detention during a lockdown drill, All thanks to Levi Cressy-Baggott...

Future Ambition:  To be able to say the months of the year in the correct order…

Name:  Daniel ‘Danny’ Dobson

Committee:  Leadership

Quote:  “Filth is still filth, even when it looks pretty” - Daniel Dobson

Favourite Memory:  Eating food…

Future Ambition:  Civil Engineering / basketball player…

Name: Morgan Gardiner

Committee:  Leadership

Quote:  “Hungry. Hungry. Gummi bears. Gummi bears. Gummi bears. Steve hungry. Hungry. Steve Starving. Hungry. Hungry. Starving.” - Steve the Monkey Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Favourite Memory:  Winning the Under 15 Eight in 2018…

Future Ambition:  To own a monkey...

Name:  Hanyoung ‘Honey Buns’ Lee

Committee:  Leadership

Quote:  “Sometimes we all need a 3am, sit me on the edge of the bed, with head in both hands, type of reality check.”

Favourite Memory:  Teachers versus Prefects Basketball…

Future Ambition:  Have fun and get rich...

Name:  Benjamin ‘Bender’ Russell

Committee:  Leadership

Quote:  "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift that is why they call it the present" - Master Oogway

Favourite Memory:  Doing stats for the 1st XV for the whole season...

Future Ambition:  Engineering...

Name:  Keran ‘K-waddle/Kezz Van Staden

Committee:  Leadership

Quote:  “A 2 shall do if they are last on the queue.”

Favourite Memory:  When Cory Lansdown thought that ‘eyebrows’ was a joke...

Future Ambition:  Working with kids...

Name:  Adam ‘Dongkey’ Wilson

Committee:  Leadership

Quote:  "Send that man to the disposery."

Favourite Memory:  Cheese...

Future Ambition:  Row for New Zealand...