Message from the Headmaster – February 2022

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Welcome to the 2022 academic year. We once again extend a special welcome to Form 3 students, new students at all levels and parents new to Grammar.

I do commend and acknowledge our young men for their preparedness to return to School on Tuesday 25 January, meeting or exceeding our expectations. They have collectively set the tone for 2022 and allowed senior staff to focus on solving subject-related issues, so that we could be on full timetable on Thursday 27 January. This has meant we have now completed 10 full days of teaching and we look forward to our first full week of teaching on Monday.

As we started the academic year, we welcomed 12 new teachers to Grammar. All have been employed for their specialist knowledge across a range of subjects. They include teachers with extensive knowledge of the Cambridge and NCEA qualification pathways. We look forward to their contributions throughout the year.

Over these first three weeks, I have continued to remind your sons that to get the very best out of Grammar requires their full commitment to their studies as well as balancing this with involvement in extracurricular activities. The old adage, ‘what you put in, is what you get out’ rings true as we close Week 3 of Term 1.

2022 Prefects

Our first congratulations of the year were offered to the 2022 Head Prefect Louis Eglinton, and the Deputy Head Prefect William Jones. As is tradition, Louis was the first student of the year to cross the stage, closely followed by William and Senior Prefects William Cotter, Apa Fatialofa, Matthew Griffiths and Tom Hiddleston.

Along with the full Prefect Team named at the end of the first week of term, we look forward to their leadership and the contributions they will make to Grammar life this year. More details on the 2022 Prefects can be found here.

External Results

The 2021 external examination results met, and in many cases, exceeded our annual targets and we have congratulated those young men who met their potential last year. A full report on academic results will be provided in next month’s Bulletin. In the interim we acknowledge the success experienced in Cambridge Examinations and NZQA Scholarship Examinations:

• Our young men earned 26 awards in the Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards. These included eight Top in the World Awards, nine Top in New Zealand Awards and eight High Achievement Awards (for top in New Zealand for a subject with limited entries). We also congratulate 2022 Prefect Ryaan Sidhu for earning the top award in AS in the country – Best Across 4 AS subjects
• In NZQA Scholarship examinations our young men earned 160 scholarships, 24 of which were graded as outstanding scholarships

COVID-19

The School continues to take its responsibilities to student and staff health and safety very seriously. As such if your son is sick at any time we ask you to keep him home, and seek the advice of your Family Doctor before he returns to School. 

Students who are well are expected to attend School daily, to apply hand sanitiser at the start of each day (this is available at all entrances to the Main Block), and to follow other hygienic practices including washing their hands with soap and water for 20 seconds. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding your son’s health please contact our Health Centre.

Should your son be identified as a close contact, been at a location of interest, or tests positive for COVID-19, please keep him home and email the School on [email protected] as soon as possible. We will then make prompt contact with you for further information.

You can be assured that staff have worked ardently to ensure our On-line Learning Management System, GrammarNet, was operational as early as possible in the academic year. Your son, no matter what year level, will now be receiving resources and some homework from his subject teachers via this platform.

It is important your son familiarises himself with GrammarNet and its functionality to advance his learning outside of School hours. Students need to be familiar with GrammarNet as it may be the only way they will receive class work if required to self-isolate.

Finally, we look forward to working with you throughout 2022 as we work to advance students retention of disciplinary knowledge and the habits that support its acquisition. We enjoy partnering with parents as we encourage your sons to recognise and develop their potential and gain pride and satisfaction by setting demanding personal goals while striving to attain them.

Per Angusta Ad Augusta

Tim O’Connor
Headmaster