Mr. Tommy Thorner - Long Serving Staff Member

At an assembly earlier this term we farewelled a long-serving staff member Mr. Tommy Thorner.

Mr. Thorner joined our staff in 1997 as a member of the Property Team. He immediately made an impression for his strong work ethic, friendly personality and the speed at which mowed the lawns.

The Property Team, like all support staff, are really the unsung heroes of the school. There is a huge amount of work that goes on unseen behind the scenes that is essential to the effective running of the school and to provide our young men and our staff with the best possible facilities and resources that we can. Mr. Thorner made a significant contribution in this regard for 27 years.

Mr. Thorner took great pride in the school and always went the extra mile to ensure that our facilities were well presented. Extra emphasis was placed before significant school events. Our school facilities are for the most part old and that the school looks as good as it does for important events such as our annual Anzac Service and Open Day are in large part because of the time and effort that he, along with the other members of the Property team, make.

For many years Mr. Thorner lived on site and this helped to provide a very high level of security for the school with him patrolling at all hours of the night. His presence certainly helped to keep our school environment safe.

In recent years we have posted photos of Mr. Thorner on our school and Old Boys social media pages and the immediate and significant response that these images have gained speaks to how well he is regarded in our school community.

Mr. Thorner returned to our Property Team in a part time capacity as he eases into his retirement and we wish him all the best as he makes this transition and thank him for his exceptional service to Palmerston North Boys’ High School.