Dear Parents,

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.

Pablo Picasso

The Super Eight Cultural Festival, hosted by Rotorua Boys’ High School recently, was a wonderful celebration of the arts not only in our school, but in all of the schools in the Super Eight organisation. It was fantastic to see so many young men representing their school in art, chess, cultural groups such as kapa haka and the Pasifika group, dance, debating, drama, music, oratory, and theatresports. More than 700 young men took part, making it the biggest Super Eight event of the year.

Some think that boys’ schools are all about sport. It is true that a huge number of our young men participate in sport, and so there are always results to report on and photographs of the boys in action. But sport and culture are not mutually exclusive. One can appreciate a Shakespearean sonnet while also appreciating the finer points of scrummaging or the pick-and-go. One can love a wonderful painting as much as one can love watching the battle between a batsman and a spin bowler on a worn day-five pitch, a dust bowl, on the sub-continent. We can lose or find ourselves in reading, or music, or a play, or a film, as we can on a field, on a pitch, on a court, on a bike, in a pool. It doesn’t have to be one or the other – why can’t it be both?

The arts foster self-expression, something sorely needed amongst teenaged boys. The creative arts are an outlet for young men and, in the case of the cultural groups in particular, provide the opportunity for young men to celebrate where they are from and who they are. At a time when self-identity is under construction, this can be so important for a young man. To be able to share that experience with their friends makes it all the more special.

The arts are good for our soul. Who amongst us has not been captivated by a piece of music, has not been mesmerised by a painting, has not been entranced by a movie or a book? Who has watched a performance on a stage and not been moved?

The arts can conjure emotion in a word, in a brushstroke, in a camera shot, in a note, in a song; the arts can show us pain, show us beauty, show us love, show us loss. The emotion that pours from David Gilmour’s guitar, or from Edith Piaf’s voice, from Beethoven, van Gogh, Munch, Banksy, Leibowitz, Shakespeare, Shelley, the Violent Femmes, Connolly, Humphries, Schindler’s List, haka: we feel those emotions and they resonate with us. The arts make us human.

Congratulations to all of the 700-plus young men who took part. The standard was incredibly good and some of the performances were simply stunning. The Cultural Festival showed that the arts are strong in our boys’ schools; as I have said for many years, for those who think boys’ schools care only about sport, come and watch or listen to our production, or our Stage Band, or the Rector’s Company, or the debating, or the kapa haka group, or our choirs, or the Pasifika group…

To see so many young men doing something they clearly loved was inspiring.

‘Run it Straight’

We were incredibly saddened to hear of the passing of one of our Old Boys, Ryan Satterthwaite, who died after a backyard game of ‘Run it Straight’, a game that has gained much traction on social media and involves two people running as fast as they can at each other, one with a ball, essentially to see who can knock the other over. Our thoughts are with Ryan’s family and friends at this terribly sad time.

There had been much media coverage prior to Ryan’s tragic accident, and even more since, as the spotlight has been shone on the organisers of the public events. The game, if we can call it that, comes with a high risk of serious injury, and even worse, as we have seen, a fatality. Teenaged boys are not good at assessing risk or considering consequences; they never think anything bad is going to happen to them, and our young men have been told not to play the game here at school, or anywhere for that matter. Please have a conversation with your son about the possible consequences of ‘Run it Straight’; in doing so you will support the messages we are giving our young men and hopefully we can avoid any further tragedies.

PNBHS Sports Hub - Building a sporting legacy together

Hopefully, you have heard about the exciting project that PNBHS, in collaboration with our Old Boys' Association, are undertaking, the PNBHS Sports Hub. The associated facilities - changing rooms, lounge, viewing deck and hockey turf - will help ensure our co-curricular involvement continues to grow and prosper. We have worked hard to design a 21st Century facility that will benefit the young men of PNBHS now and in the future.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the project so far, be that through a 'one-off' donation or a smaller amount given over an extended period. Your generosity will have a positive impact on future generations of young men.

If you haven't done so already, we hope that you will consider partnering with us to make our vision a reality and build a legacy for future generations of our young men.  The school and Old Boys’ Association are right behind this project. If you would like someone to speak to about the project and how you could be involved please contact Mrs Rachel Wenham, the Campaign Manager wenhamr@pnbhs.school.nz / 0274423285. 

D M Bovey

Rector