School News

HBHS Old Boy Luke Kristen (2009) returned the school this morning as a Dive HQ instructor. He and his colleagues supervised 90 Year 10 GTR students today as they were introduced to the basics of diving, including navigation, snorkeling, and how to wrangle dive gear. The day culminates with each boy doing at least one length of the pool completely underwater, using the skills that they have learnt. 

GTR is a precursor to the Year 11 Outdoor Education course. Boys that are accepted into OE will get an opportunity to gain diving accreditation as a part of their studies. Luke was especially pleased to be able to share the skills that he has learnt with the boys.  He is heartily enjoying  his Dive HQ studies, and jumped at the chance to return ‘full circle’ to where his own OE experiences began.

The Year 10 Leaders have been named for Term 4, 2012. All leaders completed a written application and were then vetted by the staff in regard to their suitability. Over the last two weeks, each Year 10 leader has been paired with a prefect and has joined him on his duty days. Now that the seniors are on study leave, the Year 10 leaders will assist the staff with litter detentions, assist in school events such as Grandparents’ Day and Christmas fundraising for the needy, as well as organise events such as band touch competitions for the Year 9 and 10s.

Leadership and service opportunities in the junior school are a crucial way that our boys test themselves to see the level of responsibility that they can comfortably handle. Much is expected of them as they move through the school. Service is a cornerstone of solid school citizenship, and leadership is one of the most exacting forms of service that the school can provide.

2012 Year 10 Leaders:

Scott Cameron, Brent Coleman and Tim Sneddon returned from Wellington last weekend with the Maatangi Whenua trophy awarded to the top New Zealand year 11 Geography Team. They had convincingly won the regional round last term and completed against the five other regional team finalists from around New Zealand in a two day competition in Wellington. The tasks ranged from fieldwork to mapping, essay writing, impromptu presentations and current events with a geographic twist. Scott Tim and Brent are members of the HBHS Cambridge/NCEA Geography class  and credit part of their success to the broad scope of the Cambridge course.

Today, at the first senior school assembly for this year, the 2014 Year 12 Academic Excellence students were announced and congratulated for their accomplishments. These students, the largest number in the school's history, have all achieved excellence in their NCEA Level 1 results and the IGSCE examinations, and are therefore eligible to join the prestigious Academic Honours group. In addition to the Year 12 students, Year 13 student Kiefer O'Donoghue was presented with his Academic Honours badge. The 2014 Year 12 Academic Excellence students are:

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At today's full school assembly, the Year 13 Academic Honours students for 2014 were presented by Deputy Headmaster Mr Stuart Hakeney.  These students achieved outstanding results in their Level 2 NCEA and/or their Cambridge International AS Examinations last year.  Most achieved NCEA Level 2 with an Excellence endorsement.  Their achievements have earned them the right to wear the school honours blazer and honours tie in their final year of school, and we congratulate them on their outsanding results and efforts.  The full list of Year 13 Academic Honours students is as follows:

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Yesterday up at Waikato University, the Year 9 Cricket Team successfully qualified for the next round of competition in the revised Twenty 20 form.  The team beat Hillcrest High School by 23 runs in their first match and then defeated St John's College by 4 wickets in their second game.  Congratulations to the team and to coach Mr Brian Jones, and good luck for the next phase of the competition.