From the Rector’s Office

Kia ora whānau and welcome to the end of the term and the start of the school holidays. To say that your sons have earned this holiday is an understatement. It has been an eventful, busy, and brilliant term. The boys of this school have again proven that they are capable of collective brilliance when they put their minds to it. From culinary excellence at national championships, to sporting titles and accolades, we have had the chance to see amazing feats performed regularly by the boys of this school. 

The term began with our Open Day and the opportunity for boys around Southland to visit our school and spend an evening deciding whether their future is with Southland Boys' High School. This led to an unprecedented level of enrolment applications for 2025, and the privilege of trying to maximise the spaces and resources of the school to accommodate as many of them as possible. 

From there we sent teams to competitions around New Zealand, and they returned to us with life lessons, good yarns and a multitude of trophies. We were runners up in our respective hockey and football tournaments, and overall winners in the basketball tournament. Our Choir came away with a Bronze at the South Island Cadenza and our Te Ao Haka and Toa Moana performances again brought down the house at Polyfest. James McLeay and Magnus Jamieson travelled overseas and represented us on the international stage - James claiming 12th place in the world over 1500m. That is an amazing feat, but when you factor in that it was an Under-20 championship and James is 17, you start to add weight to the facts. Not to be outdone Magnus travelled to the World Under 18 track finals and came away with two sixth place finishes and a seventh. Just to prove that he is a well-rounded athlete, Magnus then went on to win the ‘Simon Says’ challenge at our cultural competition. 

Cultural competition saw the unveiling of our new school haka. For those of you that are yet to have the pleasure of seeing it in action, you are in for a treat next year. Grant House for the 1000th year running took out the competition and it was amazing to see the pride, passion and talent that went into all the house performances. 

On a structural note, I was very pleased to be able to announce several staffing appointments over the last couple of weeks. Taking on the role of Associate Rector will be Mr. Leon Dunn. Leon is no stranger to this school and its history, having been a teacher here across many areas from the junior school to the Māori and Mathematics faculties. In recent years Leon has been the Deputy Principal in charge of the Pastoral care portfolio. He will make an amazing Associate Rector, and I am extremely grateful to have him by my side. Mrs. Julia Shannon has been named as a permanent Deputy Principal with oversight of Curriculum and Strategic Development, and the position of Deputy Principal, with oversight of the Pastoral and student support networks, is Mr. Jason Dermody. The final piece of the strategic puzzle was the Master-in-Charge of the Hostel. This position has been established to work alongside the Hostel Manager, Mrs. Sue Mills, to support our hostel students. It is with great pleasure that I am able to announce that this position will be held by Mr. Shaun Fitzgibbon. 

The Senior Management of this school now represents over 60 years of Southland Boys' High School experience, 2 old boys of the school and over 17 years serving as senior managers.

I will close with one final message. This has been an extremely difficult year for teachers nationwide. The introduction of new teaching and assessment standards at NCEA Level 1 has required a major adjustment to the teaching material and assessment structures of the school. I would like to thank the Heads of Faculty and all teaching staff for the dedication that they have shown to their craft. We are one of the few schools that continued to offer NCEA Level 1. We made this decision because we firmly believe that boys are ‘goal-driven learners’. NCEA certification remains the key goal for Year 11 - 13 students at this school, and I would like to thank the staff of Southland Boys' High School for ensuring that this remains possible. 

Have a wonderful holiday folks. Like I said, it has been well earned. 

Nga Mihi Nui,

Ray Laurenson

Rector