Tēnā koutou katoa, ko Rachael Aitchison toku ingoa, nau mai, haere mai...

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, we welcome you all to Senior Prize Giving and are grateful for the opportunity we have to serve as a board for Hamilton Boys' High School. This year we undertook the three yearly election cycle and said goodbye to many of our elected parent representatives. Our new Board is diverse and has all the right skills to support Hamilton Boys' High School into the future. I want to acknowledge and thank our previous serving members who have contributed so much to our school’s success and strategic direction. They courageously committed, donating their time and skills to ensuring Hamilton Boys' High School provides the very best pastoral, educational and co-curricular opportunities for every student to succeed.

I also want to acknowledge the disruption that COVID-19 has had in the last three years, a disruption that has affected our staff, students and community. Whilst I am not suggesting that these are akin to challenges that faced Sir Edmund Hillary or Richie McCaw, they have been challenges that will have felt at times difficult to overcome. Our staff, students and whānau should be individually celebrated for their role in this, but lucky for you, we don’t have all day! The students and leavers have excelled across arts and culture, sporting and academic fields and we are incredibly proud of the small part the Board's leadership and decision-making plays in that.

This year the Board has been able to move two strategic developments along and in the next year you will see the construction of a Sports Dome - a covered facility including a hockey warm-up area, opportunities for futsal, basketball, and indoor cricket, and our long awaited Marae. The Marae will give us a cultural focal point for the school and provide enhanced teaching and learning opportunities for our students. It is the most exciting and critical part of our infrastructure that has been in our planning for many years. To those across our community, who have championed this development, never giving up, thank you.

In the last few weeks, we have seen and celebrated the student success in areas of the arts, culture, sports and all areas of co-curricular activity. But, just as importantly, I have also felt privileged to witness examples of commitment, compassion, service, kindness and brotherhood. These examples made me reflect about key messages for our students. These are; that as both individuals and collectively you matter, you make a difference and the world is a better place with you in it, the values of manaakitanga and aroha are essential for your future and ones that are just as critical for communities to thrive.

Finally to our students who leave Hamilton Boys' High School this year. Thank you for upholding the values of our school, for the contributions you have made and the difference you will make as you go out into the wider world, with all that lies ahead of you. We wish you the very best for the future, “for a wise man carves out his own future, but he also carves out a route for those who will follow”.

Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.