Principal's Foreword

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Tēnā koutou,

Welcome to the Term 3 edition of the John McGlashan College Old Collegians Newsletter.

We are hopeful that our Alumni are enjoying these termly updates as the dream is to have a thriving John McGlashan Alumni network up and running in the near future.

This will be my last Principal’s forward for 2025, as we now look forward to the next chapter that John McGlashan College will begin with our new permanent Principal in place, Dr. Aaron Columbus. It has been a true team effort this year with strong work and support behind the scenes from the members of the Senior Leadership Team and the Board, who have been a major part of the successful start, and almost finish of this year.

There has been plenty to celebrate in sport this term across a huge range of different sporting codes. Winter Tournament Week was held earlier in the month and our boys' represented John McGlashan in tournaments across New Zealand with pride. Be sure to take a look at the sports article later in the newsletter for the full overview of our boys incredible achievements.

I asked the staff and boys ten weeks ago to “strap yourself in for a very busy Term 3.” I wasn’t wrong as it has been a busy time, especially for our senior students with Winter Sports 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.

We have had an exciting term in the arts with one of our rock bands, ‘Deaf Raccoon’ making the National Rockquest finals which were held in Auckland last week. There were only eight teams selected in the whole country and even though they did not make the top three, the group has done incredibly well. Our Kapa Haka boys performed exceptionally well at Polyfest this term. It is incredible how far these boys, as well as the Columba girls, have come over the past few years.

The very first Fashion at McGlashan event was held at the end of August and was a resounding success. This event was the major fundraiser for John McGlashan Arts and showcased local high fashion alongside an Upcycled Couture competition. Guests were entertained by our very own talented JMC musicians and the event was hosted by Melanie Kerr. 

In house news, we had our House Singing competition this term and it was a real celebration of boys singing. This year each house had a band that also performed. It was very hard to judge, however, it was Burns House that were crowned the winners. On Tuesday this week we held our School Swimming Sports. The only way that Balmacewen House could be beaten in the Elvidge Cup for 2025 was if Burns were Swim Champions and Balmacewen placed fourth…..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!

In July we held our annual Open Events. This year we received a fantastic amount of positive feedback, with our senior boys doing an outstanding job representing John McGlashan College to prospective families. Each one of our 'guides' showed the pride they have in being part of our school community.

There was big news recently that the government has put a proposal out to move away from NCEA as New Zealand’s national curriculum framework. While some schools have already opted out of offering NCEA Level 1, John McGlashan College remains committed to providing NCEA Level 1 for our Year 11 students in 2026. Looking ahead to next year, we are not planning any major changes for our senior students (Years 11–13), focusing instead on refining and improving our current programme offerings.

The School Fete last weekend was a very successful and enjoyable day for our school community. We had a very busy first hour of clear skies, which was a godsend if you had looked at the weather report the day before! Our Parents and Friends (PFA) committee worked incredibly hard behind the scenes to make this event happen and we are very thankful for their unwavering support.

Kā mihi,

John Veitch
Acting Principal