Kia ora, Greetings, With optimism and a sense of relief we welcomed all the boys back last Monday under Alert Level 2 public health requirements.

The return to ‘in person’, face to face teaching has been heartening. It’s reminded us just how much high quality education depends on valuable social interaction, relationships, and dynamics that can only be experienced when we’re all together. Interaction through a screen has considerable merit and is a feature of modern life but it still falls short of what we can achieve when fully in the company of others.

King’s is now left with a powerful virtual version of itself. It’s one we will call on when seeking new ways to teach the boys to find their personal excellence. From the end of March, our teachers did a fantastic job developing online material and new support in trying circumstances. I thank them all.

Congratulations to the young men who maintained an average of 3 or more out of 5 on their Weekly Notes while in lockdown. There was a group of 161 who averaged over 4. This was truly impressive considering the practical and motivational challenges of distance learning.

With return has come a degree of worry. Some boys have taken a little longer to get used to being back in the full rigour and structure of school than others. Our Guidance and Learning Support networks have worked assiduously to help those in need of extra boosting to get back into the classroom confidently. 

In NCEA, boys’ concerns have centred on the possible impact on their performance from the time away. Our young men should not stress. Ample time and opportunity remain to finish strongly in both NCEA and NZQA Scholarship - if used wisely. This will be helped by new NZQA support we've received in best use of work completed during lockdown and delaying of the exams and folio submission deadlines. We are all in the same boat nationally as secondary schools and students; the differences will lie in how we each choose to deal with it from here.

We look forward to relaunching co-curricular activities. There is plenty of restless energy and creativity needing to be channelled back into sport, arts and cultural endeavour. To this end, we are working hard to retain as much as we can on the calendar - albeit at a later date or in a modified form.

Lastly, thank you to all the parents who joined us, in a situation far from ideal, to steer your sons through learning while stuck at home. It was a home - school partnership born of necessity, but it did prove to be functional enough to keep most of our lads well in touch with their education and not stalling, despite the national emergency.

All the best. Enjoy the long weekend.
Me te whakaaro nui.
Nick McIvor