A Message from the Rector

By Richard Hall | Posted: Thursday May 6, 2021

Welcome back to everyone. It has been a pleasure to have the school back and operating at full capacity this week.

Term 2 started with a full assembly in the gymnasium, one of only four times in a year where we all meet together as a school. There, I was able to introduce our values for the term - courage and honour. These values relate well to this term. As it gets colder and darker, we often find that attendance starts to slip. One of the main factors in any child's success at school is attendance, without it, we cannot as a staff really impact upon the learning of that student.

It is also the term where winter sports teams begin. The selection of sides is always a contentious and time consuming process and I thought I would take this opportunity to address our community about it.

Firstly, we are working hard each year to deliver the best possible experience for boys, inside the classroom and out. But remember, in sport we are a school first, not a professional sporting organisation. We do our best with what we have. We are always open to positive support, but not unfair or unwarranted criticism.

As parents it is up to us to teach our children how to cope with success and failure; and as Rudyard Kipling said, 'Treat those two imposters just the same.'

It is not the end of the world if your son does not make the team he wanted to, or you think he should. I never played 1st XV rugby here and I haven't sufferred or had any less of an experience because of it.

Instead remind your son:

1. It is not personal - you are made up of many things, each is separate and special and you never rate your whole life off one part.

2. Failure isn't terminal or final; it is simply a part of the process of learning.

3. You don't see him as a failure. Be careful that you have not pumped him up too much for  excelling previously, and if you have, be honest that it may be that you put too much on his selection.

4. That the enjoyment of the season, if he maintains the best attitude, is still an opportunity.

5. This is a chance for him to show he has more to himself and that he is learning that life is not always perfect and this is something he will get through.

Courage and honour are about coping as much with the failure as they are with the success. These two life long values will hold them in good stead.

Next week, we have the second of our Ministry of Education Teacher Only Days. These have been set aside to allow staff to look closely at the new NCEA assessments for 2023 and beyond. As a school we don't select the days, rather we are given them. We understand each time this happens it puts pressure on families and we acknowledge this. But it is a very valuable day for our staff.

I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the upcoming Year 9 Learning Conferences.