Ours is a traditional single sex school catering for the all round educational needs of young men.

Our school ethos is formed on a desire to learn, to participate, to compete at the highest levels and fulfill one's potential.

The young men at Palmerston North Boys' High School are encouraged to achieve in the classroom and to combine this success with involvement in sporting and cultural activities.

This balance enables them to be challenged, extended and motivated in many facets of real life, preparing them for their pathway beyond Palmerston North Boys' High School. The school roll is approximately 1630, allowing diversity in subjects and extra curricular activities. Our staff are committed professionals with a depth of knowledge and talent to educate students in a school with first class facilities.

Do take the time to read and view exactly what our school is about. Read of coming events or check out our most recent news.

Enjoy our website which is a snapshot of life at Palmerston North Boys' High School.

T M O'Connor
RECTOR

 

From the February 2010 Newsletter

In this first newsletter of 2010, a warm welcome is extended to all new parents and to the parents and families who continue to support the school in all facets of school life.

Thank you to parents who have supported our intention to maintain high standards of academia, dress and behaviour from the first day of the 2010 school year. There continues to be a direct correlation between basic standards being set and adhered to and the extensive list of successes that our young men and Old Boys achieve. Simply put, success breeds success.

It is the ongoing aspiration of this school to continue to better what we do. Our vision is ‘to develop educated men of outstanding character’ and in order to do this, we must have the ability to work as a collective – parents, teachers and young men, in striving to achieve this ideal. On that note, I am pleased to welcome  new staff members to PNBHS in 2010. We have been fortunate to attract well-qualified staff for a variety of positions and they are embracing the PNBHS school culture. (photo on  front cover)

I believe we have communicated very clearly with our young men and with parents about what we expect from each and every student. This term is the foundation for the remainder of the year. It is paramount that each lesson and each homework session is used to its maximum advantage.

Vince Lombardi said “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavour”

There is nothing exclusive about excellence. If you want it badly enough, then nothing is impossible. This is well supported by our school motto “Nihil Boni Sine Labore” – Nothing Achieved Without Hardwork. At the same time, it has also been recognised that in order to achieve, you also need to fail occasionally along the way because it’s not how far you fall, but how high you bounce.

The academic results of 2009 have set an extremely high benchmark for 2010 and the level of expectation for our year ahead is somewhat intense. The responses of the school in the first four weeks indicate that most young men are competitively seeking to better themselves and the outstanding results of previous years. I am convinced they can do so.

The scholarship results were again outstanding, with a total of 69 scholarships being obtained (55 in 2008). This included two of outstanding performances. We are immensely proud of the achievements of these young men and the results are testimony to their hard work and the support they received from quality teaching and mentoring.

Alongside the 69 scholarship passes, there were 47 Massey A grades, including 21 at A+.

The relationship with Massey University is a unique one which is proving to be extremely supportive of the academic rigour we are seeking in our classrooms.

In Cambridge examinations at the IGCSE, level there were some of the best results experienced by the school with 37 A* (26 2008), 39 A (40 2008) across all subjects.  PNBHS was named a top CIE Centre for 2009 meaning the school had students ranked in the first five places in New Zealand in one or more IGCSE subject.

In our national examinations, NCEA, the following summary would indicate that our young men did listen and act last year. The following results superseded previous results in all year groups except the Year 12 accelerates.

  Year 11  Level 1   81.6%

  Year 11  Level 2  14.8%

  Year 12   Level 2  77.7% 

  Year 12  Level 3  14.7% 

  Year 13  Level 3  84.0%

In the coming pages of this newsletter you will see just how well our young men performed on a national stage. While we maintain full 24 credit achievement standard courses as our norm, our results still better all results from decile 8-10 schools, boys’ schools, girls’ schools, co-ed schools and males throughout the country.

The message we continually have rammed down our throat from the Ministry and the media is that boys are underachieving. Not here! This doesn’t happen by chance. It happens because expectations are high, teaching is sound and young men are encouraged, challenged and held accountable. It also happens best when we have effective relationships between home, school, teacher and student. The young men who form part of this statistic should be very proud of what they have achieved.

Alongside these academic results, the PNBHS winning ethos has already been demonstrated in a vast array of areas this year. Our congratulations are extended to:

• Dane Cleaver & Bevan Small named in the NZU19 World Cup Cricket team
• Ben Langton Burnell named in the NZSS Athletics team
• Matiu Kaihau named in NZU19 Road & Track Cycling Development Squad
• Miguel Dib named in NZU17 Road & Track Cycling Development Squad
• U14 Waterpolo team won Division 2 Nationals in December
• 1st XI Cricket team were 4th at Gillette Cup – NZSS Nationals in December
• Junior U16, 4 x 100m Relay team won the gold medal at NZSS in Timaru in December
• Ben Langton Burnell 2nd in senior boys’ javelin, Adam Miller was 3rd in the senior boys’ hammer throw, Senior Boys’ 3 man team were 3rd in the road race, Eric Austen Kea 3rd in 100m junior boys’
• Andi Liu named the top performer in the country in ICAS Year 13 Science Competition.
• James Lissington awarded the NZ Dairy Industry Scholarship for university study in 2010.
• 19 Juniors earned the Bronze Crest Award in Science.
• Crest to Crest – the Crest to Crest team performed in outstanding fashion to complete the challenge in good time. They were the second fastest team in the history of the crest.
• Jordan Castle was 1st at the NZU15 Mountain bike Championships and Ethan Jacobs was 2nd.
• Wilson Finch and Sam Currie who aided a mass rescue of 17 people at Riversdale Beach over the summer break
• Head Prefect 2010    Callum Beattie
• Deputy Head Prefect 2010   Scott Harpham
• Prefects: Hugh Abbiss, Andrew Atkins, Sam Bardsley, Edmund Cousins, Sam Dunlop, Daniel Fouhy, Ryan Funnell, Ed Gleeson, Alex Honore, Paul Horne, Haedyn Jenkinson, Rod McDonald, Philip Mecredy, Sam Moffatt, Tom Nash, Alex Sinclair, Armando Strange, Peter Ting, Sam Vanderkolk.   (Photo on  front cover and on p.8)

You will read of many other tall poppies who have already proven themselves this year, from the team of Year 13’s who completed the Crest to Crest Challenge to NZ Age group representatives or performances of the 1st XI Cricket team or the Senior A Tennis team. Alongside these activities, individual and club performances in Shand Shield activities are worthy of sharing and celebrating.  Enjoy reading of their experiences in this newsletter or on our website www.pnbhs.school.nz 

Our best wishes to those who have been committed to this year’s musical – ‘Joseph’. Like other components of school life it promises to be a high quality production and a show not to be missed. Tickets are on sale at our Finance Office.

We have been most impressed with so many young men who have stepped up to show initiative and to drive the standards of our school without instruction or direction. Their leadership and maturity ensures that we can extend standards as the student body are setting the benchmark for each other.