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July 2011

Headmaster’s point of view As you can see there has been a lot going on this term and these are only a few snapshots of some of the highlights. In chapel the boys told me they had really enjoyed:

• The Southwell Fixture; • The Cross Country: • All the sporting fixtures they have played; • The Book Week • Stu Duval visiting author • The Book Quiz • The Science Squad Challenge • Filming at Capital E and the visits to Parliament • The Carncot Social • Admission to Communion Service • The Boarders Outing • The Year 7 Plays • Scootering Luckily this wasn’t a busy term, next term is a lot busier! The scary thing about this is that I’m not joking. We have a host of exciting things for the boys to look forward to. • Blokes Night • Speech Board Examinations • Laser Tag for all boys! • Medbury fixture • Hereworth Fixture • Wellesley Fixture • Scots Fixture • Year 8 Plays • Golf Day • Grandparents’ Day

Well done on a fantastic Term. I have included a handout for parents about reading reports from Michael Grose. My challenge for the boys these holidays : ORAL ASSESSMENT preparation.

Headmaster’s Point of P1

Headmaster’s Colours

Colours

Honos Awards

P2

Book Week Photos P4

Effort Awards

Book Week

P5

Fixture Results P6

Year 8 Trips to

Wellington

P7

PNBHS Open Day

PNBHS Testing Day

and Parents Evening

P9

Science Squad

Challenge

P10

Term 3 Returning

Times

PFH Ringaround

P11

Blokes’ Night

Golf Day Sponsors

Insights by

Preparing boys for the adventure of life Page 2

Term Two Awards

Headmaster’s Colours Music: Szymon Dawidowski Football: Baxter Perry Rugby: Hunter Werthmuller

Music: Ben Pritchard (Saxophone) Tom Adkins (Singing)

Star Badges Ben McAlley, Ben Pritchard, Jeremy Osbourne, Alex Oakden,

Chris Jaggard, Fraser Martin, Connor O’Hagan

Colours Choir: Hamish Napier, Nat Tripataraporn, Cameron Wallace

Honos Awards Term 2 Week 6 8BG Jack McKnight 8GB Conor Wohlrab, George Smith

Preparing boys for the adventure of life Page 3

July 2011

7DR Duncan Mackay, Alec Pedersen, Lachlan Smith, Michael Welch, Jacob Wells 7MM Jacob Dearlove, Samuel Oakden, Henry Gay 6BW James Borrell, Harry Newman, Hayden O’Leary, Hunter Stoneman-Boyle, Jack Trotter 345BP Hayden Downs, Geordie Ellis, Sam Sherriff Term 2 Week 7 8BG Jack McKnight, Benjamin Dawson, Sam Reddish 8GB Simon Hunter, George Smith, Harley Transom, Conor Wohlrab 8SE Theodore McNaughton 7DR Duncan Mackay, Joshua Burke, Harry Cave, Finn Coleman, Joshua Osborne, Michael Welch, Jacob Wells 7MM Jacob Dearlove, Samuel Oakden, Connor O’Leary 6BW James Borrell, Bruce Donald, Boom Ratanapardorn 345BP Lachlan Burke, Kelvin Brown, Jack Gay, Bradley McDowell, Joe Reddish, Guy Urunanon, Sam Sherriff Term 2 Week 8 8BG Isaac Johnston-Lundy, Taami Wright 8GB Kent Robertson 7DR Alec Pederson 345BP Hayden Downs, Joshua Bergen-Bronson, Travis Bayler, Zachary Soper, Kelvin Brown, Jack Gay, Bradley McDowell, Guy Urunanon Term 2 Week 9 8BG Benjamin Dawson, Baxter Perry, Sam Reddish, Cameron Wallace, Taami Wright 8GB Bradley Downs, Simon Hunter, George Smith 7DR Max Halliwell, Matthew Stark, Jacob Wells 7MM Oliver Cowan, Jacob Dearlove, Henry Gay 345B Geordie Ellis, Joe Reddish, George Reddish, Kelvin Brown, Jack Gay Guy Urunanon

Honos Awards — GOLD Finishers Term 2 Kelvin Brown, George Reddish, Joe Reddish, Guy Urunanon, Jacob Dearlove, Connor O’Leary, Michael Welch, Jacob Wells, Thomas Adkins, Theodore McNaughton, Alex Stuart, Bradley Downs, Jack McLeod, Kent Robertson, George Smith, Conor Wohlrab, Jack McKnight, Baxter Perry, Sam Reddish, Taami Wright, Ben Dawson

Honos Awards — RED Finishers Term 2 Oliver Bird, Lachlan Burke, James Luxton, Leo Allan, Brooklyn Greer-Atkins, Ben Loudon, Travis Bayler, Hayden Downs, Geordie Ellis, Jack Gay, Bradley McDowell, Sam Sherriff, Zachary Soper, Douglas Ashton, James Borrell, Bruce Donald, Harry Newman, Hayden O’Leary, Boom Ratanaparadorn, Mitchell Cremer, Henry Gay, Ethan Lawrence, Trey Bidois, Harry Cave, Finn Coleman, Jonty Lombard, Duncan Mackay, William McRae, William Morris, Joshua Osborne, Alec Pedersen, Benjamin Pritchard, Matthew Stark, Levi Loudon, Alex Oakden, Nat Tripataraporn, Timothy Abbiss, Mark Bartlett, Darren Hirschberg, Simon Hunter, Jack Laven, Izak Taylor, Harley Transom, Daniel Hadlow, Fraser Martin, Cameron Wallace

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Book Week

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Honos Awards — Blue Finishers Term 2 Joshua Bergen Bronson, Amado Inciong, Jack Clarke-Hoggard, Alex Millar, Tayler Burke, Rourke Fraser, Jake Hobbs, Thomas Hopkins, Hunter Stoneman Boyle, Patrick Tobin, Daniel Truss, Jarod Berendt, Oliver Cowan, Blake Marshall, Samuel Oakden, Connor O’Hagan, Harlan Oliver, Jeremy Osborne, Matthew Perry, Isaac Slako, Thomas Alderson, Joshua Burke, Max Halliwell, Max Harder Barfoot, Ben McAlley, Lachlan Smith, Benjamin Bell, Finn Caldwell Stanton, Christopher Jaggard, Sam Redmayne, Benjamin Shannon, Hunter Werthmuller, Jamie Connell, Bill Gatrell, Song Khothanayong, Hamish Napier, Hunter Aiken, Connor Bright, Szymon Dawidowski, Samuel Henley-King, Brodie Hobbs, Matthew Howe, Isaac Johnston-Lundy, Jack Kinder, Josh Lennox, Isaiah Pritchard, Samuel Scully, Angus Tylee, Oliver Walker.

Effort Awards 3/4/5 BP Jack Gay, George Reddish, Joe Reddish, Jack Clarke-Hoggard 6BW Tayler Burke, Bruce Donald, Hayden O’Leary 7DR Harry Cave, Joshua Osborne, Finn Coleman, Michael Welch 7MM Jacob Dearlove, Connor O’Leary, Ethan Lawrence 8SE Thomas Adkins, Natdanai Tripataraporn, Alexander Oakden 8GB Darren Hirschberg, Hamish Napier, George Smith 8BG Benjamin Dawson, Samuel Reddish, Baxter Perry Book Week This year’s Book Week was a great week of reading and book-related activities beginning as always with the Costumes and Characters Day. The staff and boys transformed themselves with some very creative outfits to demonstrate their knowledge of a character. To begin the day the staff presented their characters to the boys at a special assembly, then the boys went back to their rooms to choose the best from their class to take part in the final.

In the junior competition Joe Reddish’s rather rotund Bruce Bogtrotter from Roald Dahl’s, Matilda, narrowly beat his brother George’s sinister, Draco Malfoy, from the Harry Potter stories and Rourke Fraser’s chirpy Pinnocchio, to take the number one place. In the year seven competition Ben Pritchard’s amazing Little Yellow Digger, beat Harry Cave’s young soldier from Michael Morgurgo’s book Private Peaceful and William McCrae’s Toad, from The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame. The year eight competition was a closely contested one with George Smith as the Iron Man, from Ted Hughes’ book taking the top spot from Theo McNaughton as a rather entertaining Afghan biscuit from his favourite cookbook, The Ultimate Baking Cookbook, and Sam Reddish’s Captain Hardcastle from Boy, by Roald Dahl. The boys impressed the judges with their knowledge of the character and book as well as their imaginative dressing as the character.

On Tuesday Stu Duval, author, cartoonist and storyteller had the boys eating out of his hands with his delightful stories. His humour, sound effects and facial expressions had everyone laughing and thoroughly entertained. Later in the day he held two cartoon workshops which taught the boys a great deal about creating cartoons in an amusing way.

Other activities during the week were a Squad Read-a-thon where the boys read for squad points, a design a Book Mark or Book jacket competition and other class activities. The week finished with the Squad Book Quiz. There were teams of four from each squad in each of three age levels all trying to answer the most questions correctly about children’s books. In the Junior competition Mather’s team of Jack Trotter, Tayler Burke, Travis Bayler and Jack Clarke-Hoggard came out tops on topics including Picture Books, and Roald Dahl. In the Year Seven group the Strombom team consisting of Finn Coleman, Max Harder-Barfoot, Alec Pedersen and Jacob Wells won with superior knowledge on such topics as Authors, and Animals. At the

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Year Eight level Daniel Hadlow, Sam Reddish, Hunter Aiken and Taami Wright from the Sherriff team were far too good on the subjects of Authors, Adventure and Series.

Fixture Results

Hadlow Fixture at Huntley 16 June

1st XI Hockey Lost 1 - 2

This was a game where the amount of possession did not reflect the score. Huntley had difficulty getting the quick shots away in the goal circle and Hadlow made the most of their opportunities in Huntley’s defensive circle. Signs of improvement within the Huntley team were the passing – much more of it with greater accuracy, and ball skills – not as much work being done on the reverse side of the stick. This result was disappointing, but Hadlow deserved their win.

2nd XI Hockey Won 5 - 0

After the first ten minutes of the match, which saw wayward passing and shooting, the team settled down and began to play some good hockey. We closed them down when they threatened to get into our circle and passed the ball accurately to all areas of the pitch. Mitchell Cremer, and all right sided players, sent over some well struck crosses and the chances mounted up. The forwards looked goal hungry in this match and converted 5 of the chances created. A much improved performance from previous matches as we tackled well and fully deserved the victory.

1st XI Football Won 9 - 1

Following a gutsy performance against Southwell the week before, it was a slightly more relaxed 1st XI that took to the field to play host to Hadlow. The team started confidently and well, keeping the ball played to feet, passing slickly and maintaining possession for lengthy periods. Goals were not long in coming, from a variety of positions; a hat-trick for Nat, Patrick Tobin (2), Jeremy Osborne (2), Isaac Johnston-Lundy and Sam Henley-King all getting on the scoresheet. Overall this was a very confident team performance, particularly in the absence of captain Baxter Perry through sickness. Against Southwell the boys showed that they could fight, against Hadlow they showed that they can play.

Hereworth Fixture - Saturday 2nd July at Huntley 1st XV Rugby Lost 10 - 26

Hereworth players emerged from the bus, with a confident strut, and rightly so having beaten Scots convincingly earlier in the term. I knew once again this was going to be a true test of the team’s character!

Arriving at school Saturday morning with a bounce in my step, only to find out that we would be without the services of our vice-captain George Smith due to illness, wasn’t the start we needed.

From the get-go the standard of dedication and urgency was set high, with Jack Kinder putting a devastating tackle on their kick receiver “Goliath.” We spent most of the first 15 minutes in their half, but didn’t manage to come away with any points. As soon as they got down our end of the field, they

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struck first blood from a tap penalty due to some slow defence off our line. Later in the half they scored again, going into the break leading nil 14. More determined and skilful rugby after the break from both teams, created a real spectacle of prep school rugby! A well worked set move from a penalty got us right back in the game as Jack Kinder crashed over. Hereworth were not to be outdone and with continual bombardment of our try line managed to cross the chalk once more to further extend their lead 21-5. Both teams were to score deserved tries once more, final score 10 - 26. Many of the boys played well on the day; however, special mention must go to Jack Kinder who was simply outstanding and deserved ‘man of the match.’ We are all looking forward to the next battle.

2nd XV Rugby Lost 0 - 64

Sam Redmayne won the toss and the boys got stuck in , playing aggressively and tackling in the 1st 5 minutes. However a lack of defence saw the first of Hereworth’s tries. From then on, it seemed like the boys had forgotten all the drills and techniques learnt all term covering defence. This was disappointing as a few boys were tackling, but there always seemed to be holes where boys were letting through the opposition. By half time the score was becoming embarrassing. The half time team talk was subsequently very honest and the boys realised that they needed to find some GDP and believe they could do it. The 2nd half was better and even though the score line did not show it, Huntley played 100% better in the latter half. Sam lead from the front and enjoyed the physical challenge when changed to being a lock. Lachlan Smith, Bradley Hughes, Bruce Donald, Henry Gay, Harry Newman and Angus Tylee had good games. A special mention must go to Sam Sherriff, who as a Year 5, played a great game.

Year 8BG Trip to Wellington It was a busy day and below are some of the boys’ highlights.

The Reserve Bank Museum

The best part was when we got to see the MONIAC go. I’ve never seen anything like that. A computer that is powered by water is amazing. Szymon Dawidowski

I really liked the MONIAC, the first economical computer run on water. I was very curious as to how it worked. I also liked the $150 coin made of gold, and the million dollars. I was lucky enough to be one of the lucky ones to get some shredded money. Ben Dawson

The Supreme Court

One of my favourite aspects was the court room. Its design is lovely. The seats were really comfortable and I thought the copper panes made a really cool, modern effect. Angus Tylee

My favourite part about the tour was seeing the case about Taito Philip Field in action and being able to see Justice McGrath, the Huntley old boy there.

The best part for me was going to the old High Court because Justice Williams introduced himself and so did the defence lawyer and the prosecuting lawyer. Brodie Hobbs

I thought the judge was really nice to stop and tell us about the courtroom right in the middle of the

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proceedings! The atmosphere was not what I had expected. I was expecting it to be all tense but it wasn’t like it at all. I liked it how the judge told us the old judges used to say to the prisoner, “Send him down”. Sam Henley-King

My favourite aspect of the tour was the cells. It was really interesting reading all the things the prisoners had written on the benches. Connor Bright

Parliament

One of my favourite aspects of the tour was the buildings. I think we are very lucky to have such beautiful Parliament Buildings. I think the modern Beehive mixes with the old buildings very well. Angus Tylee

I liked meeting Simon Power and learning that the nearer you sit to the Prime Minister the more likely you are to have a say.

Isaac Johnson-Lundy

My favourite part was when we saw Parliament in action. It was really funny when they were arguing and making smart comments to each other. I finally got to see John Key which was a highlight of the day. Jack Kinder

ONTV at Capital E

The ONTV s studio was a great facility for us to film in with great cameras, TVs, speakers, and microphones to name a few. It was cool the way we could do our own thing, without being controlled all the time.

Because I was a reporter, my favourite part was when I was in front of the green screen interviewing Jack Kinder. Josh Lennox

My favourite part was dressing up in the really cool costumes that were in the wardrobe. Matt Howe

My favourite part of the time wasn’t just filming the interviews but also watching the show at the end. It was hilarious watching all the mistakes we made and laughing at ourselves. Sam Scully

8GB Trip to Capital E

8GB were first up at the ONTV studio. The boys quickly settled themselves into their various positions, learning what they had to do, and practicing their jobs. George Smith and Jack Laven created interesting characters for themselves as the presenters. Darren Hirschberg was a very organized Director, helped by Tim Abbiss and Izak Taylor in the booth. Kent Robertson, Jack McLeod, Jamie Connell and Harley Transom doubled up as reporters and interviewees as we did not have enough boys to fill all the roles. Bill Gatrell was a late change as a weather man and did a great job considering. Well done to Bradley Downs, Hamish Napier and George Smith for great visuals.

After an enjoyable time in the studio, a welcome lunch break was had, then an hour of exploring Te Papa was a highlight for some boys.

Parliament was very informative, with the debate in the House a lot of fun and eye-opener for some boys. A meal at McDonalds finished off a great day trip to Wellington!

Link to 8gb Capital e video below:

http://youtu.be/J7xHj515uxA

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PNBHS Open Day

Wednesday 10th August 5:30pm and 7:00pm

As with all Secondary School Open Days parents are responsible for arranging transport to

and from the Open Day. We would like parents to arrange the evening session if possible as

Oral Assessments need practicing and a half day out of school is not needed at this stage of

the year. Information about the Open Day can be found on the PNBHS web site.

Please let Mr Edwards know the arrangements you have made for your son on this day.

Palmerston North Boys’ High School

PNBHS Testing Day -- 28th September The following arrangements have been made:

1. Boys who will be Day Boys in 2012 will travel by bus to PNBHS, departing Huntley at 12.00

noon.

2. Boys who will be Boarders at College House in 2012 will travel by minibus leaving Huntley at

10.30 am. Parents will meet their sons at College House at 11.30 am for lunch.

3. At the conclusion of the placement tests (3.00 pm) all Huntley boys will return to Huntley on

the bus.

PNBHS Parents’ Evening - 27th October - 7.00 pm

Huntley will not be responsible for taking boys to PNBHS for this evening. Parents will need to

arrange transport for their sons to Palmerston North and return them to Huntley at the conclusion of

the evening. Please let Mr Edwards know what transport arrangements you have made.

Dress code for the boys on both days is greys and red jersey.

All parents of 2012 PNBHS boys should have received information from PNBHS.

If you have not, I suggest you contact them immediately.

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Science Squad Challenge

Tuesday 5th July saw the science challenge kick off with the junior classes having some marble problems to solve. The squads had to design a free standing, sturdy structure to suspend a marble from the greatest height possible, and then a structure to direct a marble accurately towards a target. There were the normal limitations of time and materials, as well as certain criteria that had to be met in each challenge. There were some great towers made for suspending the marble in a close contest between all five squads, but Sherriff’s design of the ‘marble roller’ was by far the best and they were the winners of the junior challenge.

After break saw the turn of the intermediates. There challenges involved designing a tower that had a light glowing at the top. It had to be as tall as possible, but still remain sturdy. The second problem was to design a plane which could fly as far and as straight as possible. Strombom were the runaway leaders with these challenges, although the planes did not fly as far as was originally planned!

So, onto the year 8 problem solving session after lunch. With a fact sheet and picture, the first challenge was to build a scale model of the Sky Tower in Auckland. There were some very accurate models, both with size and appearance. The second challenge involved making a ‘roller racer’ that would travel the furthest distance when released off a ramp and it had to resemble a formula one car. An added twist was that the car had to have a name relevant to their squad and the colour relevant to Huntley School. The Rix Trott ripple looked impressive, but did not perform off the ramp as hoped. Sherriff won a close year 8 competition, and with it the overall squad shield. Narrowly beating Strombom by 2 points.

Well done to all the boys who competed. There were some excellent designs, fantastic team work and interesting ideas.

Junior Winners: Sherriff

Intermediate Winners: Strombom

Senior Winners: Sherriff

Overall Results: Sherriff

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Term 3 Returning Times

6.30pm — 6.45pm All Y8s, boys travelling more than an hour, and new boys

6.45pm - 7.00pm All Y7s

7.10pm All Y4/5/6s

PFH Ringaround Summary Thank you to PFH members who have taken the time to ring parents and also for the parents who have answered the questions put

to them.

Please find a summary of the results:

Question 1: How did the first term go?

There was very positive feedback regarding the first term, with the following highlighted:

Bus incident was handled extremely well.

The majority of parents have been very happy with the communication stating it has been very good-excellent. However some

parents were keen to have more information and to have some issues clarified. Some alternative methods of communication were

suggested including diary system for homework. There was a consensus that the boys had settled in well and communication with

teachers was excellent over this time.

It was felt the Godfather scheme had been good.

Comments made regarding the swimming sports focused on the Marton pool and those parents felt this was a great venue; and the

day was run professionally.

Some parents stated that their sons were very tired as the Huntley day was a full on day.

Boys enjoyed the camps.

Boys have enjoyed the sport.

Boys have improved academically since being at Huntley.

Question 2: What are some of the positive things you have found with the school?

These have been documented into specific areas to cover the feedback given; and in no particular order.

Communication: Parents have expressed the following regarding the communication.

They have felt it is open with staff willing to listen to parents. The inter action between teacher and pupils is positive.

It was commented that the teacher parent interviews were well done.

Several parents have highlighted that the emails, texts and Headmasters’ Blog were excellent, and also the monthly newsletter.

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The comments were that communication at Huntley was open and ranged from good through to great/excellent.

Staff: Very favourable feedback has been given by parents to the staff. Parents have found the staff to be great, friendly, accessible,

approachable, committed, and that there is a good working relationship. It was felt that the staff are very professional and kind and

caring towards the boys. Many parents have commented that the Headmaster is great.

Academic: Parents have fed back that Huntley provides good/great academic and sporting opportunities. That it sets their sons up for

high school. The availability of extra learning was felt to be great. It was stated that the Huntley environment was friendly with good

systems in place, and boundaries. The positive charts it was felt helped to keep the boys focused. Discipline was also highlighted as being

great.

Pastoral Care: Parents have commented that the care given is good- brilliant. It is felt that the communication with the Matrons has been

good. They know their sons are well looked after in a supportive environment.

Food: Some parents have commented that they feel that the lunches are working well and the food is great.

Environment: Parents have commented that the driveway works well and provides more safety for the boys. They also have found the car

park area to be fantastic.

Boarding: Parents have commented that their sons love boarding and have made lots of friends.

Question3: Are there any areas you consider could be improved on in the school?

Some parents have provided valuable feedback relating to a specific area they feel could be improved on; these comments have only been

raised by one family. Often a solution has also been suggested. These suggestions will be addressed separately.

The following areas have been highlighted by parents in relationship to Question 3. While a number of positive comments have been

made relating to the same areas; parents have given their thoughts as to ways of further improving these areas. They have been

summarized as follows.

Communication: Increase the level of communication by all classes having a blog, the website being updated more often, more

information to new parents who may not be aware of systems and the lines of communication. I have spoken to staff about sending out

more class e-news letters. Some staff are trying blogs (Mr Williams is the master) It is very hard for duty masters to find the time, however ,

I believe this could develop. We have just recently updated the General Information and this should help parents who have questions.

Information: To parents regarding who is in sports teams has been requested especially at junior level. Also an explanation of the honos

badges, colours, for new parents who are not aware of them. These teams tend to be a little fluid so this can be difficult I suggest parents

ask their sons or phone the office if unsure. Badges are explained in full in the new General Information.

It was felt it would be good to have more reporting back as to how all sports teams had gone and not just those at a higher level. We do

cover Saturday results in every assembly. It would make our newsletter huge to do this every week.

Some parents of Boarders would like to be informed at the same time as the Dayboys parents are relating to issues and also events coming

up. I generally do this but some notices are just concerning day boys. Don’t quite understand this one?

Telephones: It was reported back that sometimes it was hard to get through on the phones to boys.

It was suggested that possibly the time could be extended for parents to call? Yes, well that would be good in an ideal world. However the

problem would be solved if parents did not have extended conversations with their sons. Be fair 3-4minute should be enough especially

on Thursday nights when parents are ringing to check teams etc. Can you imagine saying to the boys Ok tea has finished just wait here for

another 10 minutes as someone might ring?

Some parents commented that when they phoned the school it would be good if the person identified themselves. Good call will ask staff

and boys to do this.

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Environment: A number of parents have commented that the Front Entranceway needs tidying up, the gardens; First impressions are

important. Quite agree. In planning.

Food: Many parents have provided feedback regarding the meals and food. Most people are aware that this currently is in review so the

comments made are valuable to form part of the review process. While there have been many positive comments parents have also provided the

following comments.

Some parents feel that the boys are missing out on a hot midday meal, and that the meals are not enough. Not true this term we have had one

cold midday meal. Once again I don’t agree sure sometimes boys may want more but I am sure this happens at home. They are allowed extra

bread to make a sandwich if still hungry at lunch. It has been highlighted that the boys lead an active full on Huntley life. With this brings time

constraints for making sandwiches before sport, and perhaps an alternative could be available.True especially on Thursdays so we now offer

Bananas instead. It is also felt that it would be good for a snack/morning tea to be taken on a Saturday morning especially when there is a late

sports game. Absolutely and this has never been a problem other than sometimes coaches forget to take something. I will let staff know about

this. Some parents felt that the boys were hungry and should have available to them seconds at meals. Ummm they do! Parents have

commented they would be keen to see menus. Sure not a problem. I have asked Anna to supply a typical Two week menu so parents can see

what the boys have and I will put this on the web. There appears to be support for a hot healthy cooked breakfast. We have increased our

cooked breakfasts to include Thursdays and Saturdays as these a major sports days for boys. Parents are keen to get feedback from the

nutritionist. And so they will. To be honest I believe that a number of parents have been hoodwinked by their sons and get told half truths.

Some of these comments you can see are valid but the food here remains one of the highlights for the boys. Many boys, including big year

eights like Jack Kinder, have told me they far prefer the main meal at nights. I can understand that some day boys are not quite as happy

without the pudding at lunch time but I’m sure they get this at home.

Also a parent wondered if it was possible to have a supper on Sunday night if a boy had travelled. We have offered this in the past and the

kitchen has made sandwiches which the boys don’t turn up for. Happy to do this but need warning.

Awards: Some parents have commented that they would like to know the criteria for achieving badges and awards. Look in the new GI.

They also felt that the boys needed to know too. Criteria for badges are often mentioned to boys in assembly. Boys are encouraged to come

and speak to the Headmaster or their teacher if they are interested in becoming a badge. Some parents of day boys felt that there should be

equal opportunity for day boys as there is for boarders. We have 11 Year 8 Day Boys and of these we have 1 Gold, 2 Red and 3 Black Badges.

So 55% of Day Boys hold a leadership badge. 59% of Boarders have leadership badges. So as you can see this is pretty much equal and is

reliant on the quality of the boys not whether or not they are a Day Boy or a Boarder.

Pastoral Care: Some clarification was asked as to the new flexi-boarding scheme. This is now available on the website.

Parents of boarders were keen to be able to take their sons’ out if they had travelled to see them. This is not us being hard-nosed we have

parents visiting all the time and it is impossible to keep an accurate eye of who is in or not if parents take them out. It is also unfair on the

other boys who are in and makes it difficult for the duty master etc. Parents are always welcome to visit and stay on site.

Heating in dormitories was raised. We are looking into this these holidays.

While some parents commented very favourably on the matrons some felt it would be good that there was more of a “hand over” if their son

had been ill, and more feed back to the parents. Not quite sure what is meant by this. I do require matrons to ring if a boy is sick or has been

injured.

Lost Property: Parents have commented on lost property and wondered if checks could be done. When parents find that their son has bought

home the wrong item of clothing could they phone the other parents. Checks are done regularly. This, due to the nature of boys, will not be a

problem that ever fully goes away. Think about your own son and then multiply it by 130 and you begin to see the enormity of the issue. In my

experience nine times out of ten this is because boys don’t take responsibility for their own gear.

Sports Coaching: Some parents commented about sports coaching. They felt that it may be necessary to up skill some of the sports coaches. Also if someone was in a lower team then they didn’t get the better coach. It was felt that sporting teams don’t have coaches of equal competency. We do the best we can. I realise this is probably aimed at tutors. If you think about it we spread coaches fairly evenly. Some of our best coaches take junior teams.

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Yours sincerely

Bradden J. Gay

Headmaster

Encl: Mid Year Report Effort Report Calendar Health Certificate T2 Health Certificate Term 3 Clothing Checklist (Boarders - Gold / Day Boys - Pink) Billet Request Form

We’ll be watching out for you.

Are you man enough to come dressed in black and watch the All Blacks thrash Austrailia with your son, grandson, nephew, etc?

Saturday August 6th 2011

6:00pm-9:30pm $15 dollars per bloke, young blokes free Includes meal, drinks and half time ice cream. RSVP Office@huntley.school.nz

Or Ph: 06 327 8049

The Headmaster invites you to

BLOKE’S NIGHT

Dress Black Out

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Golf Day 2011 The sponsors of our Starter Packs are currently:

Our current Hole Sponsors are:

If your Company / Family would like to be a sponsor please contact

Bridget Morris or the Huntley School Office