Principal's Foreword

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Tēnā koutou,

All staff would agree that we’ve had a very positive start to the 2025 school year, and spirits are high. As you are most likely aware, we have some changes in leadership at the College after our Principal, Mr Neil Garry, retired at the end of 2024.

Listed below is the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) for Term 1:

• John Veitch – Acting Principal

• Ainslie Anderson – Acting Deputy Principal (NZQA, Principal’s Nominee)

• Tom Casey – Assistant Principal (Pastoral Care, Year 12 & 13 Dean)

• Brendan Porter – Assistant Principal (IB Diploma Coordinator, Curriculum, Reporting, PFA)

Clear expectations of high standards were explained to our boys at the first full school assembly. The focus for the boys this term is ‘Respect,’ which includes respect for themselves, other boys, people in the community, all staff, and our facilities.

We started the year by celebrating the Year 12 and 13 boys who were awarded Scholar Awards. At present, we are placing a real emphasis on academics. While John McGlashan College is well- regarded for its sports and arts accomplishments, it is crucial for us to reassure our community that our primary focus will always remain on academic achievement.

Earlier this term, we announced the full list of prefects for 2025. After careful consideration, the final group of prefects consists of an even mix of six day boys and six boarders. We have high expectations for these students to be strong leaders for the College this year. The four House Captains were named a few weeks later.

In March, we celebrated the opening of our second campus in Te Anau. The campus has been named Te Kūwaha Mātauraka, which means "the pathway to knowledge" or "the pathway to learning". We have already had six McGlashan camps visit Te Anau this year, with another six scheduled for later this year. Many other schools have also booked in for their camp experiences. Most International families may not be aware that our second campus in Te Anau is available for group bookings by our school community. It is a wonderful venue for family retreats, anniversaries, or even weddings. Please see the advertisement below for further details about this valuable opportunity for McGlashan families.

It has been an exciting term for our International Students. In March they were invited for a special Visit to Te Rūnaka o Ōtākou. Over 200 international students from over 20 countries and 10 Dunedin secondary schools gathered at Te Rūnaka o Ōtākou for a memorable experience of connection and learning. Throughout the day, students had the opportunity to engage with one another, forming new friendships across schools. The visit provided a deeper appreciation for the history and significance of Ōtākou Marae, reinforcing the importance of cultural connections in our diverse city.

At the beginning of April we had a very successful two week visit from Ichikawa High School, Chiba District, Tokyo. The 20 boys who we hosted at John McGlashan loved their time in Dunedin. Their aim in coming here, aside from experiencing another culture, was to improve their English.  Each morning the boys had ESOL classes in the ELC with two specialist English support teachers. They got to show us some of their culture too, each boy gave a 5 minute presentation to a John McGlashan class, in English, about an area of interest in their own lives. We heard about Japanese temples, sweets, anime and manga, earthquakes and Japanese history.

We are now heading into the school holidays, and we look forward to an action-packed Term 2.

Kā mihi,

John Veitch

Acting Principal