Richard Hall, 2 July 2026
A Message from the Rector
Term 2 is now done and dusted for another year.
As we head into a well-deserved term break, I want to reflect on our school value for this term: courage. This particular value was chosen because I believe it is often missing from what we typically expect from and discuss with our young men.
You might reasonably think that we already talk about courage quite a bit, particularly in a sporting context. We often speak of the courage to take on the opposition or to face your fears. While coaches certainly use that language, that is not the only kind of courage our young men need to understand.
Rather, I believe our definition of courage should expand to encompass encouragement. Our boys develop essential, beneficial life skills when they encourage themselves to be better, to try new opportunities, or to be brave enough to confront the areas where they have not yet succeeded.
In assembly this week, I challenged our young men to begin incorporating the school values into their daily lives right now. They will not suddenly become better or more skilled at life at some arbitrary, age-defined point in the future. Instead, that growth must start today, right here within the walls of Boys' High.
For my part, I have been deeply encouraged by both the number and quality of our boys' achievements this term. This includes the high number of centurions in each of the senior year groups, our local and regional tournament victories, excellent interschool results, outstanding Year 10 reading progress, and the hundreds of courage badges awarded in yesterday’s junior assembly. There is ample evidence that daily encouragement is just as powerful as the courage required to face a massive, singular challenge.
Please enjoy this time with your son. Ensure he spends some time outdoors whenever possible and enjoys genuine, face-to-face time together. Finally, for about ninety percent of our boys, it certainly wouldn't hurt to go through their school bags to throw out the old notes, wrappers, and general mess they manage to accumulate.
I look forward to seeing you all next term.