Principal's Foreword

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Tēnā koutou,

It was wonderful to see so many parents at our Course Selection Evening last night. I hope this will spark valuable discussions with your sons about their potential academic pathways for 2026 and beyond. Please remember that we have a scheduled teacher-only day on Monday 18 August, and the school will be closed to students.

The PPTA has now confirmed that there will be ‘industrial action’ happening this term due to the government making one of the lowest offers ever, with nothing to address the teacher supply crisis in New Zealand. There will be a full strike on Wednesday, 20 August, so we cannot have any students at school. There will also be potential partial strikes between 15 – 18 September. On these days, particular year levels need to stay at home. The year levels that cannot come to school are:

• Monday 15 September – Year 12 and 13

• Tuesday 16 September – Year 11

• Wednesday 17 September – Year 10

• Thursday 18 September – Year 9

If there any boys that need to be supervised on Monday or Wednesday this week, please email a request to Mr. Nigel Hunter directly. nigel.hunter@mcglashan.school.nz 

In sport this week, it was amazing to see our Hockey 1st XI take out the final against Otago Boys' in a tense penalty shootout. Congratulations to all of the boys and their coaching team on their efforts throughout the season. They now look forward to the Rankin Cup, the national tournament for the top 32 school teams in the country.

For our rugby followers, You may be aware of the proposed South Island Boys School competition set for 2026. Below is an article from our two Board Chairs that provides an update on this matter and the College’s position regarding it.

Our Theatrefest team has been selected for the Otago Regional Final of Theatrefest 2025, for their piece 'The Real Housewives of Colchis' which is a clever blend of Greek Theatre and reality television created by the students in collaboration with Ms Fridd.

We broke the 100 mark on Wednesday this week with 102 boys away from school, mainly due to illness. Once again, If your son is showing any signs of illness, please keep him at home to help keep everyone who is at school healthy.

Lastly, please note a correction to the new Swimming Sports date change. The new date is Tuesday 16 September, which is unfortunately when there is a proposed rolling strike day for our Year 11 boys.

Kā mihi,

John Veitch
Acting Principal