Kia ora whanau o Waitaki

What a busy time it has been as we already near the middle of Term 1. 

Firstly, it is with a great deal of sadness that we have to acknowledge the devastating news that Nigel Ryburn’s wife Jacinda passed away last weekend following a tragic accident. Nigel has asked me to pass onto the entire Waitaki Boys’ High community his gratitude for the ‘overwhelming support’ he has received over the past week. As always, we have rallied around to support our friend, our colleague and our teacher and we will continue to do so. Our thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to Nigel and his whanau at this time. I would like to make particular mention of Sam Henehan who is Nigel’s closest friend and has been a massive support to him throughout this time.

Over the past week we have welcomed Billy Guyton to our staff as our Director of Sport. Billy has a passion for seeing young men from rural areas succeed in both sport and life and also a wealth of experience playing elite level sport having represented the Tasman Makos, the Hurricanes, Crusaders, Blues and NZ Maori in Rugby. We wish Billy all the best in his new role and look forward to him making a fantastic impression on our sports programmes. We also welcome Schuyler Orr to the Learning Support team as a Teacher’s aide. Schuyler is a proud old boy and he is already proving to be a valuable addition.

Speaking of sports a huge thanks to all involved in the very successful Athletics Day last Friday. To the ground staff for preparing the grounds, to Ray Boswell for organising the event and all the staff for their support for running the events. The boys were outstanding in their participation and effort throughout the day and the whole day just had a great feel to it. Congratulations must go to the staff relay team who laid the prefects to waste in their annual 16 x 100m relay race.

Congratulations also go to the 1st XI Cricket team who showed some outstanding determination and resilience in overcoming St Kevin’s on Monday to defend the McSkimming-Smith trophy. Chasing 130 to win the team found itself in a tricky situation at 49 for 7 wickets but Alex Wilson (Year 11), Thomas Anderson (Year 12) and Lochie Mavor (Year 11) added the 82 runs required to win the match.

It is great to see that rehearsals for the postponed musical “Aotearoa” are gathering momentum and we look forward with much anticipation to the show being presented in Week 8 of this term. Don’t forget to get in early and secure your tickets when they go on sale shortly as they will no doubt sell quickly.

From a curriculum point of view it has been pointed out to all the young men sitting NCEA this year that NZQA have changed the rules so that a resubmission of work will at best receive an Achieved grade. In reality what this means is that they will have to get their best mark at their first attempt. This means that more focus in class and greater preparation will be required at the first assessment – and this is no bad thing! Can I ask for your support in emphasising this attitude and work ethic at home with your son’s.

This week has seen Year 9 camps taking place – all four Year 9 classes spend 3 days and 2 nights at our school camp at Lake Middleton. Having visited 9Bu on Tuesday evening the value of this facility to our young men was reinforced yet again. The boys were having an amazing time building ‘rafts’ (not very successfully it has to be said) to cross the lake. It is also quite humbling to see the lodge and bunkroom standing unscathed from the recent forest fires that ripped through the Lake Ohau

village. My sincere thanks to the Year 13 students and staff who have given their time to provide an amazing opportunity for all our Year 9’s.

A reminder that if you wish to join me to hear about the Strategic Plan for the school in 2021 and our general vision for the school going forward along with an opportunity to ask any questions about school related matters please join me next Monday evening 1st March in the Auditorium at 7pm.

Also rescheduled due to Covid Level 2 is the Year 9 Parents meet the Teachers which is now scheduled for Wednesday March 10th at 6pm in the Auditorium.

Thank you to everyone for your continued support of our school. These are challenging times but our school continues to go from strength to strength and I see an increasing pride in being a Waitakian on a daily basis.

He waka eke noa (We’re all in this together)

Floreat Waitakia

Kind regards

Darryl Paterson

Rector