Dear Parents,

Greetings, tena koutou katoa, talofa lava and welcome back to Shirley Boys’ High School for what I am sure will be a busy and productive Term 2.

Those of you who are new to our family, an especially warm welcome.  

The big news is, of course, the confirmation of the rebuild timeline and already great support for the plans for the new school has been voiced by the community. I will not go into much detail as there are many links to the flythrough animation of the new school  noted in this publication. It is my expectation that there will be a sod-turning exercise in the next month or so, and it is our hope that we can coincide that with a celebration Mid-Winter Swim, scheduled for 16 June. Mr Ambrose has details of this event and the aim of the associated fund-raising exercise elsewhere in this publication.

On the 7th and 8th of May I attended a successful ABSNZ Conference with the Head Boy Connor Edwards. The conference was in Wellington and featured addresses by Sir Graham Henry, Dr Kevin Knight (Shirley Old Boy), and Dr Michael Johnston.

We had a very successful day hosting Year 8 students on Friday 12th, and I am most grateful for the work of Craig Croft, as well as all of the staff who worked so hard to make the day particularly memorable for our Year 8 guests and their teachers.

Finally, I must thank you all for your willing support for our annual Work Day. The proceeds will go towards helping us replace Outdoor Education equipment, and programmes and that will benefit all current students in the school.

Regards

John Laurenson

Headmaster