School House Newsletter - Merry Christmas

By Vai Mahutariki | Posted: Wednesday December 21, 2022

Wishing everyone a safe and enjoyable summer

Tena tatau e te whanau whanui o Te Wharekura. Greetings to our School House hostel families and wider community. We hope you are enjoying some deserved down time with your boys and families.

I wanted to take this opportunity to firstly thank you all for your support of what has been a busy yet rewarding year for School House hostel and looking forward to an exciting new year. To some of our families whose time with us has ended with your boy/s completing Year 13, we wish you all the best with your boys next steps in life and know that they will always be welcome home to us for a visit from time to time.

Congratulations - National Title Won - Touch Rugby

A huge congratulations to our hostel boys who are part of the Senior 1st Touch Team who recently competed in the New Zealand Secondary School Touch Nationals in Rotorua from December 9th - 11th. Our boys went through the tournament as the only boys team to win every single game including the grand final win against our neighbours and local rivals, Kings High School. Such a great moment to have two teams from Otago in the New Zealand Final. This is the first National Touch Title for Otago Boys’ High School and only the second one from a school in the South Island in the boys division.

Members from School House hostel involved were;

Captain and School & Hostel Prefect - Hamish Faulks

Head of School House & School Prefect - Thomas O’Connor

Year 12 & 2023 Deputy Head of School House - Rota Lafita

Year 10 and Most Valuable Junior Player - Te-Ava-A-Katu Nicholas

Year 10 and Most Improved Player - Tom Wilson

Management were;

Director of Boarding and Assistant Principal, Coach - Vai Mahutariki

Manager and proud mum - Andrea Faulks

A banner in honour of winning a National Title for the team will be hung in the school gymnasium in 2023. National Honours on their blazers will also be given to these boys who are seniors in 2023 as well as our departing Year 13 boys. Such an amazing achievement for these boys, the management team and wider community. Up the Hoops.  Special thank you to everyone who supported the team along the journey and also staff like the administration team who ensured all details were organised and sorted.

150th Reunion just over two months away - February 24-25 2023.

The 150th Reunion is finally going to happen and just around the corner. The planning committee have done a great job keeping this organised and ready to go. They now need your help for some final items. As part of the event there will be a BBQ put on the Saturday 25th February as part of the special sports games being organised between hostel and day boy Old Boys. We would really appreciate some donations of meat for this BBQ please. Items such as sausages, steaks etc would be welcomed in order for the planning committee to run this. All proceeds from the BBQ go directly to the School House Hostel for your boy/s. If you can support please email [email protected]

Great to see a number of our dad's and grandfathers of current hostel boys who are attending next year.  Attached at the bottom is the most recent newsletter regarding the 150th Hostel Reunion.

Preparations underway for 2023

Our Housekeeping and Property team have been working hard since the boys left to prepare for 2023. Big cleaning and maintenance jobs will continue to be completed throughout the summer.

Labelling Clothing

This is a friendly reminder to ensure all of our boys clothing items are labelled. Here are some online companies as per below links to try if you wish. Also at the Bottom is Embroideme in Dunedin who do iron on options.

Name Label Companies

Based in Auckland

https://www.preciouslabels.co.nz/product-category/clothing-labels/

Name it

https://www.nameit.co.nz/iron-on-clothing-labels/

Embroidme, Dunedin. - ph: 03-4777057

Iron On Name Labels - 20 labels for $30, 48 labels for $50, 100 labels for $65, and 200 labels for $94.

Large Speakers Prohibited in School House Hostel

This is a reminder that Large Speakers will not be allowed in the School House hostel. Any that are brought in will be confiscated and then handed back when your son returns home or collected by family.

Upcoming Events:

Return to School House Hostel 2023 - All to arrive in Full School Uniform

• Year 9s arrive on Sunday 29th January

• Year 10s arrive on Monday 30th January

• Year 11s arrive on Tuesday 31st January

• Year 12s arrive on Tuesday 31st January

• Year 13s arrive on Sunday 29th January

Start of School Dates

• Year 9s and 13s - Monday 30th January (Official Welcome to all new students)

• Year 10s - Tuesday 31st January

• Year 11s and 12s - Wednesday 1st February (Full School in)

Year 9 Hostel Mount Aspiring Camp - February 3-6 2023

As part of the tradition in School House hostel, all year 9 boys go on camp on the first weekend of the term. While bringing your items for the term, you will also need to bring some added items for camp. A separate email will be sent to all parents in Year 9 early in the new year. For all our other boys, the first weekend of each term is an in weekend where our boys spend time reconnecting with their mates and any new boys etc. 

Finally have a great summer break, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Follow us on our social media platforms Instagram: @obhshostel and Facebook Otago Boys’ High School Hostel for information and activities our boys are doing.