Kia ora koutou

As always it has been a busy term with a number of events going on. 

It is wonderful to see how engaged our students are in these activities, particularly the House events such as Athletics and the Backyard Cricket. It is great to see the desire the boys have to do as well as possible to gain House points.

We have also been able to acknowledge over the last month two significant events for the Canterbury area. We held a full school Assembly in the gym on February 22nd to acknowledge the 10th anniversary of the Canterbury earthquake and in an Assembly on March 12th we acknowledged the second anniversary of the March 15 shootings at the Al Noor Mosque in Christchurch. Both of these events have had a significant impact on our community and whānau, and it is important we recognise them and show support for those affected.

Unfortunately, this term we have also dealt with anti-social behaviour. Vaping is a widespread concern for secondary schools throughout New Zealand. As a school we are bound by the Smokefree legislation. This outlines that vaping is prohibited in schools, and that the sale of vaping products and merchandise to under-18s is prohibited. Students are not permitted to bring vaping products in their possession or use them while at school. Any students not abiding by these rules will be treated very seriously. We ask parents and whānau to support this school with this important matter.

We have also had incidents involving aggressive and unpleasant behaviour by a small number of boys within our school. This behaviour is not meeting our Gold Standard and these boys are not demonstrating the values of Shirley Boys’ High School. Our staff have been working very hard with these boys to minimise this behaviour. This has resulted in a number of Stand Downs, three Suspensions, with boys being Excluded from Shirley Boys’ High School. This poor behaviour is upsetting and is damaging to the reputation of the school, and is easily avoidable. I am very thankful to the Board for their support in dealing with this behaviour in a serious way so that the school is a safer and more pleasant place to be.

Often these incidents have occurred following comments made on social media. We encourage parents and whānau to monitor their son’s online behaviour and support them to make good decisions about its use. Over the coming months, Shirley Boys’ High School will be hosting seminars to provide parents with the tools to support their son.

Finally, congratulations to all of our teams and individuals who performed so well during Summer Tournament Week. We had teams all over the country and they performed extremely well. 

A special mention must go to Jordan Edwards and Luca Landells who won the NZ Secondary Schools Boys Cup in Tennis. At all times they conducted themselves well, met the Gold Standard and strived to be Better Than Before. Thank you to the staff and coaches for their hard work, and to the supporters who encouraged and supported the boys.  

Tim Grocott .