School News

On the 30th March, 25 senior students departed for Argentina on the bi-annual Spanish Tour. The trip was a three and a half week immersion into Latin-American language and culture, run by Mr and Mrs Matthews, and Mr Steel.  After the 14 hour plane flight, we landed Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina and a bustling Latin city of over 16 million.

We were quick to notice how friendly and helpful the Argentine people are, with most going out of their way to assist us when they discovered we were from New Zealand. For the first week we toured around the city of Tigre, before a trip to the seaside town of Mar Del Plata, where we were billeted for the first time. This and our second billet, later in the trip, were perhaps the highlights of the travel experience for many of the boys. Staying with an Argentine family was a real insight into the cultural differences between the two countries and made the boys practice their Spanish speaking, as most families spoke little English if any at all.

  HBHS Athletic Sports Results 2012

Senior Championship

1^st equal         Gavin Gilbert                     Argyle                     74 points

1^st equal         Theunis Pieters                Tait                         74

3^rd                    Regan Ware                      Steel                       72

Intermediate Championship

1^st        Alex Wood                              Taylor                         96 points

2^nd        Legin Hotham                        Baigent                       68

3^rd        Jacob Priddey                         Taylor                          64

Gold Medalists and Cup Winners

•U-16 coxed four: Hamilton Boys’ High School (Theo Krielen, Caleb Loomans, Sam Macky, James Parton, c Hayden Shaw)
•U-15 coxed eight: Hamilton Boys’ High School (Matthew Thompson, Ryan Fenton, Thomas Williams, Thomas Beford, Tayne Tupaea, Matt Munro, Ben Goodson, Luke Feisst, c Ben McPherson)
•U-15 coxed four: Hamilton Boys’ High School (Matthew Thompson, Thomas Bedford, Thomas Williams, Luke Feisst, c Ben McPherson)
•Top Coxswain: Ben McPherson

The following is a extract of the speech by Glen Ross (TIC Rowing), delivered to HBHS during our whole school assembly to recognise the winners of National sporting titles on Wednesday 4 April.

… We have a proud history and we have worked hard at this school to position ourselves as one of the best rowing schools in New Zealand.  Our record in recent years has been second to none. The current competition is tough and the standard is very high.  At the Maadi Cup regatta last week, no boys’ school was able to win more than three titles.  Only HBHS and Auckland Grammar were able to do this, while major schools like Westlake, Kings, St Kentigern’s, Sacred Heart, St Paul’s and Wanganui Collegiate were unable to win a single event.

The 2012 HBHS prefects and prefect leaders were announced during a whole school assembly today.  Over one hundred prefect applications were made at the end of 2012, and competition for the positions has been intense. 

The photo on the right was taken directly after the first prefects' meeting, called by Mr Hotham and Mr Kirkham at the end of assembly.  The boys' duties commence immediately. They will appear in the formal attire associated with the position (white, long sleeved shirt, grey trousers, blazer, badge) from the end of the week.

We congratulate the following students:

Congratulations to all students who won Individual Sporting Code cups/trophies in their sporting code at last night’s School Sports Awards Evening. Congratulations also to those students and teams that won the Premier School Awards. The winners were:

2012 HBHS Sports Awards Evening: School Awards Winners

Fairplay Individual of the Year: Brodi McCurran (Rugby 1^st XV)

Fairplay Team of the Year: Rugby 4^th XV

Student Umpire/Referee of the Year: Rhys McLachlan (Hockey)

Student Coach of the Year: William Devenish (Waterpolo)

What was your first impression of Hamilton Boys' High School as a new Year 9?

I remember the powhiri, and one Year 13 student in particular, looking at me - challenging me, during the haka.  My first thoughts were 'That's five years away, but I reckon it's going to come around pretty quick.'

How have you made decisions about your academic and service goals while you've been here? 

I've always talked to teachers and Deans as well as the Masters in Charge - asked them for advice.  Whenever I had any questions or ideas, I'd seek out the teachers that were likely to be able to help.  I've had a lot of mentoring.

What's been a highlight of your HBHS experience, so far?

My biggest highlight must be having been able to make a film.  In Year 11, teachers allowed me to work on a very different type of programme.  They gave all of us a huge amount of support, and were as passionate about seeing the project through as we were.  That was great.