A positive school tone in the playground and in school activities has been a feature of this week at Otago Boys' High School.

I was very pleased with both the turnout and attitude of those who spent Wednesday at the Caledonian Ground. While the weather was not perfect, the House spirit and competitive attitude more than made up for it.

A special congratulations to Cameron Moffitt who broke the school Under 14 Shot Put record, and Jackson Toms who broke the Under 15 Triple Jump. This is something special, and obviously, Cameron and Jackson will have their names in our school records until it can be broken. The Year 9 Meet the Teacher event was also well attended last evening, a thank you too to those parents who traveled some distance and time to be there.

Our academic assembly next week will focus on our scholarship, NCEA excellence endorsements and our centurions. There will be a number of awards to give out and I am sure it will be a special occasion. But more importantly I hope it is a spur to others to take up the challenge and to see it through this year. While pleased with our overall pass rates; I am sure that through a community effort we will be able to do even better this year.

A number of junior boys will represent the school in local competitions. It will be the first time they 'don the hoops' and I know they will compete fairly and honestly and be accepting of the result. Myself, I will be at Sunnyvale (which may be an oxymoron), with my cricket team.

Looking forward to it.