Message from the Headmaster – November 2024

Dear Parents/Guardians,

As we prepare to pass the halfway mark of the final term of the year, examinations will be at the forefront of your sons’ minds. The Cambridge and NZQA external examination series are well underway, Form 5 Pre-Q examinations conclude at the end of this week and Form 3 and 4 end of year examinations begin next week.

We know that academic growth at all levels of the School is supported by a strong work ethic that includes effective study; a preparedness to make the sacrifices to do so and willingness to ask questions and take advice. This type of self-disciplined approach supports the development of a growth mindset. It is that mindset and the ability to apply it that will help your sons experience success in these final weeks of the year. 

Alongside having a growth mindset, we have also reminded your sons of Owen Eastwood’s formula: Performance = Capability + Behaviour.

At a critical time of the year, your sons’ chosen behaviours will bring out the best or worst of their current capabilities, and their behaviour exists primarily in two domains:

• The Public Domain, where your sons are under the School protocols or family protocols – meeting external standards and expectations. Quality responses, application and proficiency are demanded of them here, by others
• The Private Domain is the one in which they spend time alone. This is the time daily they have to confront their habits, limitations, temptations and fears

As your sons prepare for their examinations and are either on study leave or will soon be awarded such leave, this is a critical time in their private domain. This is where they need to create an environment of being accountable to themselves, if they are to experience success and reach new personal bests.

In their private domains, it is easy to shift into a fixed mindset, particularly when studying, and then because something looks too hard, they present themselves with an excuse to stop studying and to give up.

Those who are most successful start to identify this negativity and trigger a shift into a growth mindset. They use techniques to maximise their study time, they have a study plan on their wall and they remind themselves when they cross a day off their calendar, that it was another day of study achieved. They understand the marginal gains being made.

Performance = Capability + Behaviour

Your sons are growing their capability through daily study. They are growing their behavioural responses through being self-disciplined enough to follow their study plan and using techniques to maximise how they use study time. They are presenting themselves with every opportunity to produce personal best results.

We have a busy few weeks of the year left, to complete examinations, and conclude Term 4 extracurricular activities, before we join together for Prizegiving where we will celebrate student achievement, antifragility and personal growth.

Per Angusta Ad Augusta

Tim O’Connor
Headmaster