Principal's Foreword

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Tēnā koutou,

Welcome to the second edition of the John McGlashan College International Pilkington Press. Remember, you can also stay up to date with everything on the college’s Facebook page and on our website.

Our positive start to 2025 has certainly continues into our second term, and we welcome back our Deputy Principal, Mr. Nigel Hunter from his sabbatical..

Sports Wrap-up

Our rugby boys that went on the Japan Rugby tour during the Term 1 Holidays had a very successful time on and off the field. They played some very competitive games and very much enjoyed the sightseeing.

 

Our three annual Winter Sports Exchanges were a focus for the beginning of Term 2.  We began with a highly successful STAC exchange. We then took on Southland Boys’ High and Timaru Boys’, where almost half of our boys are involved. It’s was certainly a busy two weeks of pre-season sports.

We had our cross-country this term. There was a bit of a chill in the air, however, the boys certainly warmed up pretty quickly when the races began. Participation was very high and congratulations to Balmacewen House who had 83% of their house finish and won with a total of 2,534 points.

Our 1st XV rugby team recently pulled off an amazing victory against Otago Boys' High School. After trailing 5–12 at halftime, the team fought back, despite facing a strong gale in the second half, to score four tries to win 29–26. A truly gutsy effort that we’re all incredibly proud of. JMC ended up in third spot at the end of the first round.

In hockey, several McGlashan players travelled to Christchurch to represent Otago in the Mainland Cup. It’s fantastic to consistently see more than half-a-dozen of our boys selected to represent Otago at the national level.

Arts and Culture

Our Shakespeare team had an outstanding result in Wellington. The group was awarded the Outstanding Presentation from a Comedy Award, a recognition on similar to winning a national sporting title. Special mention goes to Glenn Ericsson, who received the Outstanding Individual Comic Role Award for his hilarious Barbie-style portrayal of Kate.

We were proud to see a strong representation from our Kapa Haka and Te Reo Māori students at Ngā Manu Kōrero on Wednesday and Thursday. A special mention to Noah Konia (Year 9) and Kura Stevens (Year 11), who spoke with great confidence and were wonderfully supported by haka and waiata performances from our boys.

Our combined JMC and Columba kapa haka group named "Te Tira Haere o te Hāhi" (The Travelling Party of Faith) competed at 2025 Te Hautonga, the regional kapa haka competition for Otago and Southland. This was our first time ever competing in this competition and the group scored incredibly high grades with our lowest score being 91/100 and our highest at 98/100 for the aggregate sections.

 

Huge congratulations also to Caleb Ung, who has been selected for the NZ National Youth Pipe Band. Caleb has been instrumental in helping getting the pipe band back together by tutoring many of our juniors. Tim Stevens was also named in the New Zealand Secondary School Choir, a remarkable achievement.

General Information

At an assembly early this term, we introduced new ways to celebrate academic achievement at the College. We acknowledged both past and present students for their outstanding academic accomplishments. Updates to our academic standards have allowed us to award additional academic ties and to launch our new Academic ‘Blues’ Awards. Recipients of this honour will have their names displayed on a new academic board to be installed in the Memorial Chapel.

Our new JMC Health Hub on our College website was launched this term. This is a ‘one stop shop’ for teachers, boys, parents (and old boys) for all areas of health. I encourage you to have a look at this as it is not only impressive, it is incredibly informative. Simply click here.

We had our Annual JMC Sports Dinner recently and had Mark Inglis as the guest speaker. There was over $32,000 raised to support sport at the college.

We received the sad news of the passing of Ernest ‘Tuppy’ Diack at the age of 94 during this term. Tuppy was a much-loved former staff member who dedicated nearly 30 years to teaching at JMC. A talented sportsman, he played 101 games for Otago and one test for the All Blacks. He also gave generously of his time as a coach for both the 1st XI Cricket and 1st XV Rugby teams. His legacy will be long remembered in our community. His funeral was held here at the College in our Memorial Chapel.

Former All Black Captain, Richie McCaw, visited the college during the last week of this term. He spoke to the Year 11 – 13 students from John McGlashan, as well as Columba College, in our Memorial Chapel. The main focus was on how to deal with pressure, not just on the sports field, but in life. The students asked him some very good questions and were very engaged for the hour that Richie spent with us.

Kā mihi,

John Veitch
Acting Principal