It’s the end of my first term at King’s and I wish to thank all the staff, students, parents, Old Boys and wider supporters from the King’s Clan, who’ve helped me to settle in.

The warmth and generosity of spirit I’ve received has been humbling. It’s supported me to begin to understand where the strong qualities and achievements of King’s come from, and where the next steps up may reside. I’m also thankful for the patience exercised from time to time as I’ve learned how it works at King’s!

In the last 10 weeks I’ve noticed key influences that underpin the King’s Way, as drivers of King’s success. The first, and perhaps most prominent, is the positive push boys receive from staff. When approaching new learning and growth, in or out of class, the boys are pushed to progress. They are, with suitable support, challenged to find ways to be better than before and to go higher for personal excellence. It is this approach that drives success rather than simply providing general conditions for achievement, grounded primarily in challenge – by – choice, then waiting on the margins in the hope that boys will propel themselves to greater things. As realists, we understand that for a good number of boys we might be waiting quite some time! It’s the positive push to work with purpose and urgency that will truly meet our boys’ needs.

A second driver at King’s is the importance of character education. We’re teaching and fostering values that equip our students to be good men in the making. Character strengths are being identified and expanded from education that conveys the school’s vision of ‘Building Men For Life’ in positive ways. There’s always work to be done in this area. Some young men are more receptive to character growth than others. Our collective mission then is to help the boys to become men of character as well as qualifications. Our emerging Positive Education Programme promises to deliver even more on this going into 2020.

A third driver at King’s is the dedicated contributions of staff and volunteers to bringing so many opportunities to the boys. Our King’s Clan is not only extensive but talented. We witnessed impressive achievements in Academics, Arts and Sport this term, right to the top of regional and national tournaments and competitions, as well as pleasing results in local performances. These all stem from the multiple hats that our staff and parents wear for the boys week in - week out. A huge amount of energy and commitment is transferred to the boys.

A final key driver in my view (not that this is an exhaustive list) is the strength of relationships. Every high performing organisation or environment experiences its pressures and new challenges. The issue is often what becomes of them. The quality of the relationships in and out of the school and camaraderie that surfaces repeatedly, goes a long way to explaining the King’s success. People are linked and working in good faith, and for the boys, rather than for themselves.

Looking forward, Seniors have now turned onto the home straight as final preparations and measures for NCEA and NZQA Scholarship are taken. I urge all Seniors to have some good down time in these holidays but to also get on top of their revision, to achieve rightful results in November and December. It’s time to excel.

Nick McIvor
Rector