"Sir, where is the clipboard?"

I was excited to get in front of our boys, in a large group and talk to them about the expectations that I had for them and what they could expect from me; most importantly aroha then tautoko, whanaungatanga, manaakitanga and rangatiratanga. A group of prefects were waiting at the door with me and one of them, Tim, a great leader said "Sir, where is the clipboard?" I said "What clipboard?" they all said "You need the clipboard, Sir. Every Headmaster has had the clipboard. You need the clipboard.” I said, "No one has told me about a clipboard. Is this a thing that I need?" the boys said in the most earnest tones "Sir, you have to find the clipboard!" Harry, our brilliant Head Prefect, had given the school the nod and the boys were all standing. A quick frantic search of my office ensued and like Thor's hammer, Captain America's shield or NZSO conductor Gemma New's baton, the clipboard was found. I felt the wairua of our past great leaders and took my first assembly. Thank you Tim and team for looking after me.

I have attached a couple of photos of the clipboard and a small section of its history which is proudly displayed on the back. On talking to others, some boys thought that it had the school song on it, others a list of boys who had detention, others thought there was a list of previous Headmasters. It is a great taonga for WC. I thought that I would name the Friday newsletters "The Clipboard" in a homage to my esteemed predecessors.

Google Maps
When we plan a trip, many of us use Google maps for direction. After the destination is found we sometimes scroll and look forward to what's ahead. In the bottom right hand corner there is a button called 'Recenter'. We press that and it brings us back to where we actually are. I encourage all of our boys to scroll forward in life to look at all the possibilities that await them and when they are ready to press recenter to where they are right now. I want to go to this university, I need to take these university approved courses, this is how many credits I have today and this is what I need. I want to be a builder, this is how may credits I have and this is what I need. I have spoken to the boys about knowing exactly what they have right now in credits, and what they need to move forward. They need to know what their attendance is at WC and, if necessary, how to improve it. Our boys have the world at their feet they just need to know the steps forward. As my Mum would often say to me as a boy "Son, it's okay to have your head in the clouds but I need to see those feet in the soil."