ARGYLE HOUSE
Hamilton Boys' High School - Term 2, Edition 5, July 2021
'Shave For A Cure'
The students raised funds for 'Leukemia New Zealand', with Thomas personally raising a mammoth total of $2,558 that went towards the school total of $24,235, setting a new school record of total funds raised.
All Argyle House boarders contributed to the 'Leukemia New Zealand' tally with a gold coin donation for their mufti sign-out weekend, raising $180.
Thomas, leader of the Hamilton Boys' High Schools' Prefects' Service Committee, can be seen here having his head shaved by fellow Prefects, that includes Keegan Caines (Year 13, Head of Grove), on his right.
End of Term, Parent Evening, Teacher Only Day and the House Competition
Kia Ora Koutou
The end of the school term concludes this Friday 9th July at 2.15pm, so you are free to collect your son from 2.15pm on Friday through until 5.30pm when the hostel will close for the term, at both Argyle and Grove. There will be no evening meal on Friday.
With another busy term coming to an end, it has been pleasing to see all boys engaged in school life, without any Covid interruption. The hostel staff are proud of the positive way in which the boys have handled the winter conditions and cooler temperatures over the latter stages of this term. They have all managed themselves extremely well and deserve a well-earned break.
Report Evening and Academic Support
It was great to see many of you at the Report Evening on Monday 5th July in Gymnasium 1, from 3-7pm. If you have any concerns about your son's academic performance, can you please email Mr Fraser Kilgour, Dean of Boarding, who will provide you with the necessary advice and guidance. Fraser's email address is fkilgour@hbhs.school.nz
Teacher Only Day
A reminder of the scheduled Teacher Only Day on Monday 26th July. The hostel will re-open from 5.30pm on this day. All boys are expected to have returned by 7.30pm on Monday evening, to allow for a settled start to the new school term that commences on Tuesday 27th July. Please use Orah (Boardingware re-branded) to state your son’s return time for the start of the new term.
Matthew Allen Cup & House Competition
The Senior Leaders, Prefects and Junior House Leaders are doing a tremendous job leading the boys and running the Matthew Allen Cup events that precede the school House competitions. The Matthew Allen Cup competition between Bennett and Sutherland continues to be very close with George Reeves' Bennett House and Keran Van Staden's Sutherland House tied up on 11 points each.
Argyle were placed second-equal overall in the House Basketball competition that concluded this week, with our junior team going through their round-robin tournament undefeated. This keeps us in 2nd place overall in the House standings after 10 events, only one point behind the leaders Wilson House. We have Chess, Indoor Football, Indoor Rowing, Service and Singing to look forward to in Term 3. The boys need to be practising their chess skills over the holiday break!
This is my final newsletter of Term 2. I hope you've enjoyed reading the newsletters this term, seeing the many positive activities and events that take place within Argyle House. I'm sure you will enjoy some quality time with your son over the holiday period. We look forward to seeing all our boys return safely and refreshed ready for the start of the new school term.
Ngaa mihi
Murray McKenzie
Head of Boarding
021 516 477
Intentions Form 2022
A Message from Mr Fraser Kilgour, Dean of Boarding
Academic Progression, Mid-Year Report and Pastoral Update from the Dean of Boarding
Hopefully you have all been able to access your son's mid-term report via the parent portal and seen his current progress academically. If you are having some concerns with particular subjects feel free to email the subject teacher for any guidance or support. There are also parent interviews on Monday night which I see many of you have booked already.
If some issues have arisen with your son's progress we have many steps we can put in place at this time of the year to support him. Firstly, I encourage him to attend the homework centre which is in the library after school every Monday and Wednesday. This is run by the Academic Committee here at school. There is also specialised Maths tutoring run by Maths teachers at lunchtimes so your son needs to check the notices to keep up to date with these. If you would like something more formal and would like to arrange some private tutoring please email me and I will support you with this. The cost is $20 a session or $15 if they get tutoried with a peer. We currently have about 10% of Argyle House students receive private tutoring by Academic Honours students or University students who are former old boys. We are lucky enough to have two former Dux of Argyle House Aaron Couper and Hakaraia Richards-Coxhead helping several students.
Please also ask to see your son's Tracking Folder if he is a senior student. This lets each student know his academic progress throughout the year and credits available for the remainder of the year. It is the best tool I have when speaking to senior students about their progress through NCEA.
Some of you will also notice I have been keeping you up to date with your son's pastoral points in the day school. Sometimes Faculty Detentions don't get all the way home so this is the best form of communication to keep you involved. However, a fantastic statistic I have noticed is that almost 100 of our 164 Argyle House students have zero demerit points. This means they have not had a single Litter or Faculty detention throughout the year to date. If your son reaches 75 demerit points you will be hearing from their Year Level Dean.
As always, feel free to email me with any particular concerns you have with your son's academic progress or pastoral care through school. I would love to help.
Fraser Kilgour
Dean of Boarding
Matthew Allen Cup Basketball, Thursday 24th June - Won by Bennett House 4 - 1
Results:
Year 9 game: Sutherland won 9-2
Year 10 game: Bennett won 7-6
Year 11 game: Sutherland won 7-4
Year 12 game: Bennett won 18-5
Year 13 game: Bennett won 9-6
A big thanks to Mr Alby Ellis, the Hamilton BHS Teacher In-Charge of Junior Basketball and PE teacher, who turned up to officiate all games.
I also want to thank Matua Mita Graham (Senior Master) for overseeing this event, and also to our Year 13 Senior Leaders and Perfects, for organising their teams and running them on the night.
Movie Night Reward, "FAST AND FURIOUS 9" & "A QUIET PLACE PART 2"
House Basketball: Argyle House 2nd-Equal Overall
Argyle House: 2nd Place Overall in the House Competition
See the attached points sheet with a breakdown of results.
1st, WILSON, 47 points
2nd, ARGYLE, 46 pts
3rd, TAIT, 42 pts
4th, TAYLOR, 40.5 pts
5th, BAIGENT, 38 pts
6th, STEEL, 37.5 pts
The final events of 2021 are:
Chess (Week 2)
Indoor Rowing
Indoor Football
Service
Singing (Major event, worth double points)
Hamilton BHS School Ball, Wednesday 23rd June
'Shave For A Cure', Friday 2nd July
Gym 1 Recreation on Saturday afternoon 19th June - Basketball
'Boardingware' has now been re-branded as 'Orah'
Argyle House Food Committee meeting, Tuesday 6th July, Senior Lounge
Minutes of the meeting are kept and published on the Argyle noticeboard for all to read.
The current committee represent their year level extremely well, with all discussion aired openly. We thank Kim for giving up her time in the evening to come in and meet with the committee.
The 2021 Food Committee is:
Year 10: Jay WIlson, Preston Brydon.
Year 11: Johno O'Brien, Mac Russ.
Year 12: Thomas Verry, George Unsworth.
Year 13: Thomas Hayward, Keegan Caines.
Hamilton Boys' High School Open Day, Tuesday 29th June
Hamish Fulton (Year 9), Design Technology Wood project
Rugby U15A beat Palmerston North BHS 22-5
They pose for this photo after their annual game, played this year in Palmerston North.
2021 Argyle Manual, 2021 Grove Manual & 2021 Term Planner with Key Dates
I have attached these 3 documents below. Click to view and/or download and print.
Housekeeping Issues:
Unnamed clothing
Over the holiday period, can you please check that all clothing items are numbered and initialled with a black sharpie pen. Lagi, our Laundress, has 2 full baskets of clothing that are not numbered, so these items are unable to be placed in your son's laundry cubby-hole. These clothing items remain unclaimed, despite being laid out on the laundry table each morning as the boys come in.Unreported damage
For the first time in two years unreported damage has occurred in the ablution block. We experience accidents from time-to-time through boys' stupidity e.g. ball through a window, hole in a wall due to wrestling in their room. The boys will always come forward and they will receive the repair bill and a consequence should it be warranted. An intercom speaker has been knocked off the wall and left lying on the bathroom floor. The boys were given a week to come forward, but this hasn't occurred, so are hiding behind the large numbers that use that area. Our vandalism policy is to then charge all the boys that use that area where the damage occurred, an equal amount of the total cost. This will be added to their school account once the invoice has been received. Can you please have a conversation with your son over the holiday period around reporting all damage that occurs to hostel staff. Thank you.
Weekend return times
Can you please make a conscious effort to have your son return to Argyle or Grove no later than 7.30pm on a Sunday evening. Some boys are returning well after this time, in some cases 8.30-9.00pm. The reason for the 7.30pm return time is to allow for a settled hostel as the boys return, unpack and then settle down in their prep space to prepare for the forthcoming week, during the regular prep time from 8.00 - 8.30pm.
Likewise on a Monday morning. The return time is before 8.00am. Boys are continuing to return after 8.00am when the Duty Master has been around and locked the hostel from 8.10am.
Your support in adhering to the times above, as stated in the Argyle Manual, would be greatly appreciated by the hostel staff.
Thank you.
'Man of the Week' Award
Week 9 Term 2: Thomas Hayward (Year 13)
Week 8 Term 2: Henry Seavill (Year 10)
Week 7 Term 2: Tahlor Cahill (Year 13)
Week 6 Term 2: Quinn Boyle (Year 11)
School Links Emails to Parents/Caregivers from School:
SchoolTV - Vaping
Tena koutou katoa
Here at Hamilton Boys’ High School we are working hard to keep our students safe and informed.
SchoolTV addresses this as a new online resource designed to empower you as parents with credible and sound information with realistic, practical ongoing support strategies.
A SPECIAL REPORT: Vaping
E-cigarettes and vaping are quickly gaining in popularity, especially amongst teenagers. Manufacturers of these products are deploying sophisticated marketing campaigns in an attempt to glamorise and promote smoking to young people.
Vaping is the act of inhaling and exhaling the vapour produce by the heated nicotine liquid of an e-cigarette or vape pen. Many teens believe that vaping is less harmful than smoking as it is often formulated with flavourings to appeal to younger users. Be aware that e-cigarettes stating 0 mg of nicotine, may still contain nicotine. It is a highly addictive substance that can slow the brain development in kids affecting their memory, concentration, learning and mood. Because vaping is new, the short and long-term health effects remain unknown.
However, studies have shown that kids who have tried vaping, are more likely to smoke tobacco products later in life than kids who have not tried vaping. As e-cigarettes leave little odour, they are particularly easy to conceal and use discreetly in public places, even in schools.
In this Special Report, parents and caregivers will be provided with the facts relating to e-cigarettes and vaping, whilst also highlighting the potential dangers and surrounding legislation.
We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback.
If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school for further information or seek medical or professional help.
Here is the link to your special report:
https://hbhs.nz.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/ecigarettes-and-vaping-nz
This email was sent: 8:09am Thursday July 1, 2021
Reminder - Study Smarter Workshop
Study Smarter Student Workshop - Monday 12th July
Presenter: Karen Boyes – Study Skills Expert
Venue: Hamilton Boys’ High School Study Centre
Time: 9am to 3pm
Dear Parent/Caregiver
Students from the Hamilton area are warmly invited to attend the Study Smarter Workshop on the first Monday of the upcoming school holidays. The presenter, Karen Boyes is described as Australasia’s “Mrs Education.” An expert in effective teaching, learning and living, Karen turns her research into practical and simple-to-use techniques that create success. Her workshops at Hamilton Boys’ have proven to be immensely popular in previous years, with attendees learning some excellent strategies for studying and preparing for examinations.
As the Founder of Spectrum Education, an author, publisher of the Teachers Matter Magazine and an Associate Director of the Institute for the Habits of Mind, Karen is an expert of teaching and learning throughout the world. A dynamic presenter, she inspires teachers and students globally.
Students will learn the powerful strategies that make a difference to their study. Through the use of simple, easy to apply and yet practical ideas, students can boost their own performance and exam results.
Please see attachment for more information and registration details.
This email was sent: 12:30pm Monday June 28, 2021
Hamilton Boys' High School has attached a .pdf file to this email:
HBHS Co-Option/Selection of Board of Trustees Members needed
Dear Parents/Caregivers
The Board of Trustees wishes to Select and Co-Opt members of our school community to the Board.
The area in which the Board seeks support is Financial Management and Property. However, all applications and expressions of interest are welcome. If you would like further information, please contact the Board Secretary, Kristin Rillstone, krillstone@hbhs.school.nz.
We would greatly appreciate receiving your application of interest by Wednesday, June 30, 2021.
If you have already submitted your expression of interest, those applicants are still being considered.
Kind Regards
Kristin Rillstone
Board Secretary
This email was sent: 3:46pm Friday June 25, 2021
Our two Argyle House Parent Representatives for you to contact about any hostel matters
Mrs Diana O'Brien (Bombay)
Feel free to contact me by email eric.diana.obrien@xtra.co.nz
Mob. 027 277 1685
Hamilton Boys' High School, Years 9-13 Boarding Hostel
Email: argyle@hbhs.school.nz
Website: www.hbhs.school.nz
Location: 34 Argyle Street, Hamilton East 3216, Hamilton, New Zealand
Phone: +64 7 8530437