Kia ora koutou

It is great to have everyone back at school after the holiday break. 

I am really pleased that the boys have started off well and Term Two has a very positive feel. Over the holiday break I attended the New Brighton RSA Anzac Day Parade with the Head Boy, Associate and Deputy Head Boys and the Student Representative on the Board. It was a nice occasion and it was great to show our respect to the community and all of those New Zealanders who have served both in Aotearoa New Zealand and overseas.

At the end of Term One we conducted a survey of all Year 9 students. This was an opportunity to get feedback about how they have found their first few weeks at school, and how the teaching and learning is progressing. It was a very positive survey with the overwhelming majority of boys indicating they were glad they came to Shirley Boys’ High School; they felt they belonged at the school; and almost all of the boys knew the school values and the Gold Standard for behaviour and uniform. The boys were also very positive about the opportunities they have at school, the learning that is occurring and the impact of the teachers. One area for us to work on is that 10% of boys did not always feel safe at Shirley Boys’ High School. We want all of our boys to feel safe and valued, and we will be looking to make improvements in this area.

Last week the staff celebrated a new concept called Founders Day, which is designed to celebrate Shirley Boys’ High School and the people who make it special. We acknowledged our staff who have worked at Shirley Boys’ for 10, 20, 30 and in one special case, 40 years of service to the school. We also had a special guest who joined us via a pre-recorded Zoom interview, Bruce Weir who was a first day pupil in 1957 and was the first Head Boy and first Dux in 1961.

Bruce is the is Professor of Biostatistics and Professor of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, and he shared with us his news of being elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of London for his contribution to Science. Bruce is among 52 Fellows elected this year to the Royal Society. Other notable Royal Society Fellows include Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Alan Turing, and Stephen Hawking.

It was also wonderful to see Cody Everson named Wheel Blacks captain for the Paralympics in Tokyo later this year.

Cody was playing in our First XV in 2011 when he was injured in a tackle which left him a tetraplegic. Since his accident he has shown a huge amount of resilience and has worked hard and been positive about the challenges he has faced. Cody is an inspirational young man and will represent his family and country well at the Paralympics, and we wish him well. 

Tim Grocott