Principal's Foreword

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Tēnā koutou,

The rain poured and the wind howled however, the JMC fete experienced a busy first hour with clear skies, which was a blessing considering the weather report from the previous day.

As I told the staff and boys five weeks ago, "strap yourself in for a very busy end of Term 3". I wasn’t wrong, as it has been an extremely busy time, especially for our senior students with tournament week, exam week, Swimming Sports, as well as many different student and parent events. Serious illness has also caused some major disruptions with our staff and boys this term.

The PPTA rolling strikes continued to cause issues this week as the Year 11 boys could not attend our Swimming Sports, which was disappointing. We did put in a request to the PPTA to allow John McGlashan to change our Year 11 strike date to Monday; however, we were declined.

On the topic of Swimming Sports, it was a great occasion on Tuesday, and the only way that Balmacewen House could be beaten this year for the Elvidge Cup was if they were placed last and Burns were Swim Champions…and that is exactly what happened. So well done, Burns House, who not only won the Swimming Sports but also ended up winning the Elvidge Cup for 2025.

The Year 8 boys showed off their work on the Headway Exhibition on Tuesday night this week, and the Year 7 Boys had a fantastic Market Day on Wednesday. It was amazing how many parents supported their boys at both events.

Good luck to the boys who travelled to the Trap Shooting Nationals in Hamilton yesterday, and today was a big speech day with the Year 7 and 9 Prepared Speech Competitions.

This will be my last Principal’s forward for 2025. I would like to take the time to say thank you to all of the parents who have been so supportive of me in the Acting Principal role this year. It has been a true team effort with the strong work and support behind the scenes of the other members of the SLT and the board members, in particular ‘the Chairs,’ Geoff Burns and Simon Anderson, have been a major part of the successful start and almost finish of 2025 at John McGlashan College.

We look forward to the new direction that John McGlashan College will take in the future with our new permanent Principal in place, Dr Aaron Columbus.

As it is Māori Language this week, I would like to sign off with:

Ngā mihi i to tautoko i a au.

Boys, Staff, Parents, and wider community: Thank you for your support of me.

Kā mihi,

John Veitch

Acting Principal