Saturday night saw a bit of glitz and glamour arrive at School House for the Year13 school formal.

School House was in party mood Saturday night. The Year 13  boys, partners and parents meet at School House for a pre-formal function. The boys all looked very smart and certainly looked different than what they normally look like on a Saturday night at the hostel! During the formal itself the Year 13 parents meet at Vault 21 for a very pleasant dinner. Thank you to Debbie Drummond for organising this. The evening proved to be very enjoyable for the boys and their parents. I spoke to the Year 13 boys on Saturday about the importance of finishing well. The school formal makes the first of the ‘lasts’, the last rugby game for Otago Boys', the last class, the last day. It is important that the boys stay motivated and respectful right until the end of their time at Otago Boys'.

Other than the formal we had a very quiet weekend in the hostel. Some of the school rugby teams were playing away in Central Otago and many Central boys decided to have the weekend at home. A bit of mid-term fatigue is also setting in now and Queen's Birthday couldn’t come at a better time. The hostel will close on Thursday evening and will re-open Monday evening. We have a large hire group staying at the hostel during this period with every bed being used.

The new sports room is progressing well. We just need to put the final touches on the project and hopefully we will have it up and running at some stage this term. I would like to thank the boys for their patience during construction as there have been disruptions that the boys have had to contend with.

Janis and I are off to the New Zealand Boarding Schools Association conference in Wellington this week. This is always a good chance to get some new ideas and discuss with staff from other schools issues and problems that you might be having.

I hope you all have a relaxing and enjoyable long weekend and enjoy having your son(s) home for a few days.