Kia ora koutou

We have made it to the end of another term; a term that once again has had its ups and downs due to the continuation disruption of Covid. Generally, we haven’t been too badly affected in terms of people having Covid, but it has been compounded by a bout of influenza that has swept through the country.

Unlike other schools who have had mass absences, we have come through it pretty well. Our staff have been great – they are committed to the school, and they are committed to our students; and I am incredibly pleased with how hard they have worked.

And our students have also been good. They have demonstrated our value of Tuakiri or Character. They have navigated their way through the challenges, attended school regularly and have made a good effort, which again I am really pleased about.

This term we have also had a number of events such as sports exchanges with Marlborough Boys College, Kings High School from Dunedin and Nelson College. These exchanges take a lot of time, energy and organisation but they can create memories for the boys that they remember for a long time. It has been good to maintain those relationships over the term.

On top of that there has been normal sport and lots of other co-curricular and House activities. I want to acknowledge all of our staff who have been involved in these activities. It is a lot of work and goes on after they have finished teaching their classes or other work they do at school. I am thankful for their mahi and ensuring that our boys continue to get fantastic opportunities at Shirley Boys’ High School.

As we look to next term, we will be guided by the current health situation in New Zealand. It appears that there may be another round of Covid, so we need to protect all of our staff and students. We will be expecting boys to continue wearing masks for the first week and will reassess at the end of that week.

I hope all of the boys have a good holiday break.

Ngā mihi

Tim Grocott