From the Rector

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the first newsletter of the 2024 school year. I would like to extend a special welcome to all the ‘new’ PNBHS parents and to Old Boys who are now re-joining their old school as parents.

For a number of our young men, and their parents, this first newsletter for the year will serve as not only an introduction to the year but also as an affirmation of our expectations and the opportunities we are able to offer our young men.

It has been a busy start to the year, as always, and our Year 9 pupils will have an appreciation already of just how much is going on at PNBHS. It has also been a crowded start to the year, with over 1,800 young men currently attending the school. The sheer size of the roll has taken some getting used to for a number of our young men, but most have settled in well and they are embracing the ethos of our school.

We have made our expectations of our young men clear to them. At the first full school assembly for the year these expectations were made very clear. Our expectation is that every young man does his best and achieves to his potential. But hard work and resilience is required for that to happen. There will be challenges along the way, and resilience will be needed to ensure these challenges are met. This first term is the foundation for the rest of the year; indeed, for the rest of a young man’s time at Boys’ High and beyond.

For our young men in Year 9 the start of the term has been the start of a journey. Not just at school, but as a young man. They will grow from boys into men throughout their time here. They will go through changes, physically and mentally, and there will be some turbulent times as there always are with teenagers. Teenagers spend just 11% of their time at school, so while we will do our best to be a stable influence on their lives, the question is what will be happening the other 89% of their time. Growing boys into men is a collective effort.

From the word go we have been very clear about our expectations for attendance at school and effort in class. Attendance must be a focus – there is clear evidence linking consistent attendance to academic achievement, and the number of requests for leave for young men to be out of school for spurious reasons is a concern. Holidays during term time or taking a day off here and a day there because a young man is tired will affect a young man’s progress. 80% attendance may sound positive, but that is a day missed every week, and adds up to an entire year missed over the course of five years at secondary school. 90%-plus attendance is required.

So, we need to make sure our young men are attending school regularly and giving things their best shot. If they do, they will be fine, and it will stand them in good stead for life after PNBHS.

We look forward to seeing our young men develop over the year and look forward to sharing their successes throughout the year.

D M Bovey

Rector

Attendance

If your son is absent for a genuine reason, please phone the school and leave a message on the absence extension (06 3545176 ext. 761). Please ensure that your son attends school unless there is a genuine reason such as sickness or bereavement. Please communicate with the school if you have any queries about pending or planned absences (admin@pnbhs.school.nz). We are obliged to record any absences according to the Ministry of Education absence classification system and as such ‘unjustified’ absences will be recorded accordingly.

Queries

If you have a query regarding your son, please in the first instance make contact with his subject teacher or form teacher. You are also welcome to make contact with your son’s year level Deans. There are many staff who will be able to assist parents at the appropriate level. There seems to be an emerging pattern where a parent feels they need to go straight to the principal, which may have been what they were used to at a primary school, but that is not the case at a big school like PNBHS. With all due respect, a parent does not need to contact the Rector if their son has lost his hat or has not been picked for the team he was hoping to make.

Cycle Safety

Cycle Safety is a primary concern for the school as a large number of students travel to and from school on bicycles. We expect all students to adhere to school rules and the road rules on their way to and from school. It has been stressed to students in assembly this year a number of times that they need to follow the road rules and be responsible for their own safety while riding to and from school. I would ask that you support us by talking to your son about his safety while getting to and from school.

School Rules

A copy of all school rules has been sent electronically to each family. It is vital that both pupils and parents understand what is expected of our young men within our school environment.

Uniform & Grooming

Please note that at any time your son chooses to wear his uniform, whether it is after school, in town, or after a practice, he is expected to wear it correctly and with pride. He is identified as a PNBHS student and as such all school rules will apply to him while he wears our uniform. I would ask you to ensure that your son does not wear partial uniform in his own time.

We expect your son to be well-groomed at all times. This includes a tidy haircut that meets our standards, and he must be clean-shaven.

Sustained Silent Reading

As part of the school-wide literacy programme our entire school reads for fifteen minutes each day after lunch. The potential impact that this programme has on your son’s development is significant. It is worth remembering that Cicero once said, “A room without books is as a body without a soul”.

The text should be something sustainable such as a novel or non-fiction work, not magazines, road codes or newspapers. I encourage you to talk with your son about the book he is currently reading. The library is well-resourced with books for young men. It is open after school as well as during the school day so that your son has ready access to information in a variety of sources. No e-readers are permitted.

Laptop Computer Use

Young men from Year 10 are encouraged to bring laptop computers to school for use in class and with their assessments. These will be used in a number of classes but are not going to drive teaching and learning; rather, they are simply another tool for teaching and learning. Reading and writing are still at the top of the list in terms of importance for education.

School Fees and Donations

In the past schools were able to charge fees in a number of areas to recoup the costs of providing programmes and opportunities for pupils. However, in some areas this is no longer the case and the Ministry of Education have decreed that schools can ask only for donations. While these are donations and therefore by definition optional, we appreciate such payments being made as they are a vitally important contribution to the school. Without the income generated by these donations each year the school would struggle to operate. With state funding falling further and further behind what most schools need to operate at a level they would like, the donations are far and away the single most important contributor to the school’s annual operating income. Unfortunately, falling donations in recent years has meant that we have had to combine a number of smaller classes and, in some cases, discontinue areas of the curriculum at some levels due to the increased costs.

A number of our contributing schools have opted into the government’s donations scheme and so parents whose children attend those schools will not have been asked for donations and contributions towards the running of a school.

PNBHS receives a comparatively low level of funding from the government. Only a little over 60% of what we need as a school is covered by state funding which is expected to cover learning resources, support staff salaries, professional development, maintenance of buildings and grounds and all administration costs. However, every year this government funding has to be augmented by locally raised funds. There is a perception that what were once higher decile schools (the decile system has been replaced by an Equity Index) are able to make up the shortfall in government funding through the donation component from its community. The reality is, however, very different.

We therefore cannot be as effective as we want to be using only operational funds provided by the government. I would ask parents to please support the school by paying the donations and all associated fees when possible. I thank you in advance for your support.

The following list outlines just some of what the school donations go towards:

· Learning Support Programme

· Teacher Aides

· Accelerate Programme, including the university and scholarship classes at the senior level

· Recently added or expanded courses, especially at the senior level

· Cultural and Performing Arts programmes

· Sports Development programme

· Facilities

· A second Guidance Counsellor, funded by the BOT

· Leadership and Mentoring programmes

In addition to this, the Board of Trustees funds twelve teachers above the MOE’s staffing allocation in order to provide greater opportunities for our young men and to keep classroom numbers down where possible.

Many parents have already started an automatic weekly or fortnightly payment for 2024 school fees and donations, and our finance team will happily discuss this option with you should you be interested. Please email our finance office to make such an arrangement at finance@pnbhs.school.nz