The end of the term is upon us. Crikey dickens - how did that happen! Once we got over our Covid-19 blip in March, everything has been full tilt ahead.

The senior students have been busy working towards achieving their first NCEA assessments in each subject. Once again the focus is on task completion - no fudging, no procrastinating, just getting things finished. Teachers have reported that all classes are showing solid engagement and good learning is taking place.

One big push this year has been to ensure that every student has a suitable device. Thanks so much for supporting your son’s learning!!! Sometimes, however, students forget to bring their laptops/chromebooks and this results in delays and the occasional inability to engage with the learning material. Please help us with this and pester your boys to ensure they are bringing their devices.

Summer sports have come to an end and what a great season it has been! We’ve had some stunning results right across the board, but Rowing and Cricket really stand out.

Our U15 Quad won gold medals at the National Secondary School Rowing Champs - an awesome effort from Blake Parker, Josh Bartlett, Ben Allan, Mac Brown and Finn Gollins. Timaru Boys’ also picked up Bronze medals in the U17 Quad and the U15 Double Scull. A great Maadi for Coach Brian Smith and his team.

Our Cricket 1st XI also had a memorable start to 2021. They defeated Otago Boys’ for the first time in many years and they were very competitive in the Canterbury Gillette Cup Semi-Final against a strong STAC team. However, their most impressive achievement so far has been winning promotion back to the top tier Canterbury Schools' One Day Competition. A fantastic return for Coaches Dave Fisher and Jamie Linton.

Hockey, Football, Rugby, Basketball and all the rest of the winter codes have been winding up and getting ready to go. Karoline Roberts, our Arts Coordinator, is also flat out planning our Arts Extravaganza for next term. I’m really looking forward to seeing all of our lads engaging in the extra-curricular activity of their choice. We are all different and the important thing is participation in a group activity - this prepares a young man for life.

The 1st Term finishes with our ANZAC service on Friday afternoon. This is a wonderful ceremony and the boys are moved by their connection to the sacrifices made by young men just like them.

Have a safe and happy time during the school holidays.

In this issue

Conferencing Reports