Thursday 6th February 2025

Kia ora whanau

What a fantastic start to the year it has been. With our roll now closing in on 450 boys there has been an extra “buzz” around the school which is very exciting.

Last Friday we celebrated the start of the year with a wonderful pōwhiri to welcome new students and new staff.  I am very proud of where the school has come with regards to tikanga Māori and the pōwhiri was an example of this.  Following the pōwhiri, we had our first school assembly of the year in the Hall of Memories, which was hugely significant, as from next the Hall will be closed for the    re-roofing and re-strengthening work to begin.

Speaking of property, there have been a number of developments over the holiday period.  The new toilet block in the south-east corner of the school has been completed and is now fully operational.  The re-roofing of the Technology block has also been completed over the holidays along with a new canopy entrance to the Blundell block from the east side.  A huge thanks to Neil Conway and the property team for the outstanding presentation of the school grounds for the start of the year.  Also, a huge thanks to the team at Crest cleaning for the wonderful job they have done in presenting the interior of the school.    

On Monday we had our Prefect induction assembly.  The 12 young men we have to start 2025 as our student leaders are of the highest calibre and we are all extremely positive about the standard they will set around the school.  Thanks also to the large number of Year 9 whanau who attended the “meet the teachers” evening on Tuesday. We hope you found it informative.

With regards to the school lunch programme, unlike other parts of the country, it has started very smoothly here.  Although, there is a slightly longer wait to get into the Dining Hall at lunchtime, the boys are doing a fantastic job in coming through and also with meeting the new recycling expectations.  It won’t take too long for the boys to understand the menu (which you can see on our Facebook page) and if they chose to bring their own lunch to school that is their prerogative, but there will always be a free lunch available. 

Just a friendly reminder also in relation to traffic coming in and out of the school.  Could I ask that we do not drop off or collect our children from either the roundabout at the front of school or from inside the school grounds.  This can cause a great deal of congestion, especially with the buses turning around after school and is also unfair on those who are doing the right thing by parking in the avenue, or better still on Virgil Street or Thames Highway.  We would really appreciate your support with this.  Thank you.

Not only do the boys do some amazing things, but so do our staff.  Over the holiday period, Mr Paddy Ou won the Otago singles tennis title and Ms Laura Keep saved a mans life with her quick thinking and first aid skills on the northern motorway into Dunedin.  What wonderful people!

As I write this our swimming sports are taking place.  It looks like there is no chance of anyone getting sun burnt, but a great day is being had by all.  Despite Waitangi Day yesterday, and the weekend tomorrow, attendance is very strong which is a great sign of the positive year to come.  We are extremely fortunate to have one of the few larger school pools in the country to host such an event.

Speaking of great school facilities, next week our Year 9 camps start up at Lake Middleton where we are blessed to have the Lodge and grounds there leased to us from DOC.  It is a truly magnificent location.  The boys will have a wonderful time getting to know their new classmates and thanks to the many teachers and the prefects who are going up to support.  The Year 9 classes are off to a wonderful start.  As promised, we have put in place extra resources this year to provide more pastoral support for these classes and having been to some classes already it is amazing to see classes of less than 20 boys with at least two adults in the room.  I can’t think of many state schools in the country where this would be the case!

Wishing you all a great weekend.  It has been such a positive start to the year and thanks for your ongoing support of the school.

He waka eke noa

Floreat Waitakia

Darryl Paterson

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