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The 2023 academic results are very pleasing, with students in senior year groups performing extremely well in all external assessments.

Cambridge Assessment International Education

In 2023, A Level performances were very strong. The percentage of A* and A grades was among the highest ever, at 45.4%, and the overall pass rate was 100%. The AS results were also good, with the A-C pass rate exceeding 66% and the overall pass rate at 91%. This represents exceptionally strong performance in one of the world’s most academically demanding secondary school qualifications.

While grades have returned to their pre-pandemic levels around the world, Grammar students continue to perform very well, and the 2023 set of results are comparable with some of the results from before 2020.

Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards

Auckland Grammar School students performed well in the 2023 Cambridge examinations, gaining 15 awards for performance at the highest level in specific Cambridge subjects. Their achievements were recognised at the Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards. The awards include:

• Two Top in the World Award
• Eight Top in New Zealand Awards
• Five High Achievement Awards (Top in New Zealand or Top in the World, but in subjects with limited entries)

The School congratulates the following students for their exceptional performance:

Award	Level and Subject	Student’s Name	Series
High Achievement	As Level Economics	Ramanujan Madhusudhan	June 2023
High Achievement	AS Level Geography	Samuel Wheeler	June 2023
High Achievement	AS Leve History	Maxwell Frederickson	June 2023
High Achievement	AS Level French	Stanley Zhang	November 2023
High Achievement	A Level French	Angus Baker	November 2023
Top in New Zealand	AS Level Accounting	Oliver Gunson	November 2023
Top in New Zealand	A Level Accounting	Roshan ter Wal	November 2023
Top in New Zealand	A Level Biology	Jayden Kumar	November 2023
Top in New Zealand	A Level Chemistry	Oliver Gunson	November 2023
Top in New Zealand	A Level Economics	Ramanujan Madhusudhan	November 2023
Top in New Zealand	A Level History	Shaohang Tong	November 2023
Top in New Zealand	A Level English Literature	Andi Sun	November 2023
Top in New Zealand	A Level Physics	Yiming Luan	November 2023
Top in the World	AS Level Physical Education	Quinn Gardiner-Hall	November 2023
Top in the World	A Level Geography	Samuel Wheeler	November 2023

NCEA

The School’s NCEA cohort also performed very well in 2023. At Level 2, 72% of students gained their certificates, and 24 students saw their certificates endorsed with Merit. At Level 3, 76% of students Achieved the qualification, and 15 had their certificates endorsed with Merit.

In 2023, 66% of Level 3 students achieved University Entrance.

University Entrance

Our students study predominantly rigorous, academic subjects and standards which lead to comparatively high University Entrance rates for the Form 7 cohort. Cambridge students achieved a University Entrance E pass rate of 100% in 2023, and the NCEA Form 7 cohort achieved 67%. Combined, the Form 7 students in 2023 achieved a UE pass rate of 86.1%.

Nationally, the 2023 UE pass rate for all students was 48.2%, which was down 2% from the previous year. The 2023 National Average for boys in schools comparable with ours, 72.4% achieved University Entrance , also down by around 2%s. For our School, however, the 2023 rate was up by 2%.

NZQA Scholarship

In 2023, 90 Grammar students gained 217 individual subject Scholarships. This represents Grammar students’ best ever performance in NZQA Scholarship assessments. Their results see the School take second position among the schools entering candidates in NZQA Scholarship.

Nicholas Clarke (who achieved 5 Scholarships, including 3 at Outstanding level), Jayden Kumar (who achieved 7 Scholarships, including 4 at Outstanding level, and 1 as Top Scholar in the country) and Oliver Gunson (who achieved 7 Scholarships, including 4 at Outstanding level, and 2 as Top Scholar in the country) were all were named as Premier Scholars, three of only 10 students nationally. To be named a Premier Scholar, students need to have gained at least four New Zealand subject Scholarships, including three or more at Outstanding level.

Four students were awarded Top in Subject prizes: Oliver Gunson in Accounting and Physics, Jayden Kumar in Geography, and Alistair Ha in English. Nine Grammar students received Outstanding Scholarship Awards for their excellent results: Ethan Chuang, Omesh Gupta, Emmanuel Hernandez, Ramanujan Madhusudhan, Cole McCulley, Atharv Shinde, Maxmilian Sobr, Arsh Verma, and Samuel Wheeler. 31 Grammar students in total also gained a Scholarship Award (gaining three or more subject Scholarships).

NZQA Scholarships were again gained in an impressive range of subjects, including:

• Accounting
• Agriculture and Horticulture
• Biology
• Calculus
• Chemistry
• Classical Studies
• Drama
• Earth and Space Science
• Economics
• English
• French
• Geography
• Health and Physical Education
• History
• Latin
• Media Studies
• Physics
• Religious Studies
• Statistics

On Wednesday 21 February, 200 Athletes competed at the School’s Athletics Sports Day at AUT Millennium Stadium in favourable conditions. Although the heat posed some challenges for those competing in track events by the afternoon, the athletes persevered and delivered some strong performances, personal bests, and a number of broken records.

In the Junior grade, Form 4 student T. O. Henderson took out the Gold medal in the 80m hurdles. Form 3 student K. J. Chow won the Junior 3000m in 11.16.20min, and Form 3 student J. L. Martin won the 200m sprint in 25.52s. Form 4 student L. J. N. Caffery broke not one, but two records in the Junior Shot Put and Discus, with throws of 13.70m and 56.30m respectively; for the latter, he managed to break the record three times before settling with his final and best throw. Form 3 student T. Zhang won the 300m, while classmate R. C. Davies was first in both the 800m and the 1500m. Martin’s win in the 200m along with the 100m in a time of 12.87s and the high jump at 1.66m meant that he was named as Junior Champion for 2024.

In the intermediate grade, Form 5 student L. C. R. Thomson won the 200m race in a time of 23.14s. He followed this up with wins in the 100m, the 400m, and the Long Jump, along with a second place in the Triple Jump, and was named the Intermediate champion. Form 4 student H. C. Day won both the 800m and 1500m, R. W. Walker won the 100m Hurdles in 14.96, and E. B. Mora won the 3000m in 9.33.78, with Form 5 students B. M. Armstrong and A. K. Sharma won the Triple Jump and High Jump respectively. In the intermediate throw events, a number of personal best records were made, with Form 5 student M. K. Jacobs throwing 13.10m in the Shot Put, Form 6 student S. T. F. R. Naufahu won the Discus with a throw of 37.97m, and Form 5 student O. D. D. B. Neely throw the Javelin to Gold in 42.86m.

In the Senior grade, Form 6 student C. P. Wagener won the 3000m in 8.29.45, a new record, and now holds the 3000m records in all age grades. Wagener also won the 1500m and was second in the 400m behind classmate C. G. Howlett who claimed Gold in the 400m and the Senior 110m Hurdles. Form 7 student R. W. Fitzpatrick was first in the 800m, second in the 1500m and third in the 400m. Form 6 students A. J. Bedford and H. P. Mossman won gold in the jump events, while the throw events were dominated by Captain of Athletics J. A. Thomson, who won all his entered field events as well as the 100m and the 200m, leading him to the Senior Champion title for the second consecutive year. 

The squad is now looking ahead to the Zonal meet on Tuesday 5 March, which will hopefully culminate in representing the School at the Greater Auckland Secondary Schools Championships held at Mt. Smart Stadium on Tuesday 26 March.

We wish the team well and are looking forward to their further progress and performances.

On Sunday 4 February, the entire Rowing Team competed at the Auckland Club Championships, held at Lake Karapiro for the first time. This meant that races were a full 2km long instead of 900m like it used to be when the Championships were held at Lake Pupuke. The entire team appreciated the change to a correct race course.

The team performed superbly with nine crews making the podium, including:

• The Novice Under 18 Eight crew winning Gold over King’s College and Westlake Boys’ High School
• The Under 18 eight who won Bronze behind Mount Albert Grammar School and St Peter’s College. The crew had undergone a few changes for this race and was composed of Form 6 students M. C. Goodall and L. W. Toner, and Form 7 students H. D. S. Barrell, F. P. Houghton, H. D. Mackenzie, A. J. Merrilees, A. P. G. Redshaw, W. C. Riley and coxswain S. W. L. Fisher. They had a good start and stayed close to their opponents to finish well in third place.

The team now enters an intense month-long training programme to prepare for the North Island Secondary Schools Championships at Lake Karapiro at the end of February.

The annual Auckland Grammar School Swimming Sports were held on Thursday 8 February in the new outdoor pool for just the second time in the School’s history. With over 100 participating in a myriad of events, the most contested races were the 50m freestyle races with 50 students competing in the senior division.

There were a number of new records set across the day:

• Form 3 student T. Y. C. Chin produced a time of 1.06.55 in the 100m backstroke to beat the 2020 record of 1.10.44
• Form 3 student T. M. Lushkott produced two new records in both the 50m and 100m breaststroke races
• Form 5 student R. H. Hou equalled the 100m freestyle record from 2023
• Form 5 student S. Karpov broke two intermediate records in the 50m backstroke and the 50m freestyle as well as equally the 50m butterfly time he produced in 2023
• Form 7 student H. P. Klouwens broke two senior records in the 50m and 100m backstroke races

The standout performers in the junior competition were T. M. Lushcott and T. Y. C. Chin. With four wins each, it was Lushcott who was named the overall Junior champion for 2024, winning Gold in the 100m breaststroke, 100m and 200m freestyle and the 200m medley, and Silver in the 50m butterfly and 100m backstroke.

In the intermediate competition, S Karpov was in outstanding form winning seven races to earn the Intermediate championship and defend his title from 2023. Karpov won the 50m and 100m backstroke, the 100m breaststroke, 50m butterfly, 50m freestyle and 200m freestyle and the 200m medley. Karpov also placed second in the 100m freestyle and the 50m breaststroke.

In the Senior competition, Deputy Head Prefect H. P. Klouwens, with five wins, took out the Senior championship, also defending his 2023 title. He won Gold in the 50m and 100m backstroke, the 50m butterfly and the 50m and 100m freestyle, with third place finishes in the 50m and 100m breaststroke, the 200m freestyle and the 200m medley.

Congratulations to our three Swimming champions for 2024, to Master in Charge of Swimming G. Martin, and the Prefects for their assistance and organisation of this year’s event.

New staff members

At our first full School assembly, we welcomed our new teachers for 2024. It is our pleasure to inform you that the following masters have joined the teaching staff at Auckland Grammar School and you will get the opportunity to meet them at upcoming functions and School activities. We welcome:

• Nick Adendorff – English
• Peter Bannan – Art and Technology
• Sophie Behan – Mathematics
• Beanka Crafford – Physics
• Jenna Donohoe – Mathematics
• Thomas Dunlop – Physical Education
• Tarryn Furniss – English as a Second Language
• Elizabeth Grace – English
• Sven van Iddekinge – Chemistry
• James Ioelu – Music
• Lauren Jeffares – Chemistry
• Ga Yeon Lee – Chemistry
• Henry Lello – English
• Tom Lusk – English
• David Warburton – Economics
• Andrew Wright – Technology
• Sophie Yelle – Commerce and French

Support Staff members

• Terry Gruitjers – Laboratory Technician (Physics)
• Anya Hesketh – Teacher Aide
• Pierre du Sart – Counsellor

Attendance

If your son is absent, we ask you to immediately complete the Absence Notification e-form that is accessed within the Parent Portal on the day of his absence. This is a legal requirement and is part of our duty of care which we cannot fulfil without your co-operation.

Parents should log in and click on the Absence Notification link under Student Information, which is found on the Parent Portal home page (see below).

You should be aware that submitting an e-form verifies your son’s absence and will generate an automatic response to the email address you have provided us. It is important that you do not disclose your Parent Portal login and password details to your son, to ensure the legitimacy of this functionality.

There is no requirement to phone the School nor to provide a written note to notify us of an absence.

If your son is late to school due to a pre-arranged appointment, please provide him with a written note to be handed to our Student Office staff upon his arrival.

Please note that the above system for notifying the School of your son’s absence does not apply for exeat requests, where temporary leave is sought for medical appointments during the School day. Instead your son should bring a note to the Deputy Headmaster immediately after Assembly to receive approval to leave the campus for appointments throughout the School day. When your son provides this note to the Deputy Headmaster, he will be given a permission slip to allow him to leave his lesson at the appropriate time, at which point he must formally sign out at the Student Office before departing.

Please ensure that your son attends School every day unless there is a genuine reason such as sickness or bereavement. The School does not support casual breaks during term time as such absences impact on the standard of education we can provide. Please communicate with me directly via email if you are requesting official leave for your son. Please note that other than bereavements or national/international representative duties for a variety of extracurricular activities, no official leave is granted. Furthermore, no extended holiday leave is provided either prior to or after the official school holidays.

Scholars’ Assembly – date change

The 2024 Scholars’ Assembly will commence at 9am next Thursday 15 February. An email will be sent to all parents with the livestream link for viewing.

School Athletics Day

The annual Athletics Day will revert to the original, published date of Wednesday 21 February at AUT Millennium.

Homework

All students, at all levels of the School, are expected to have set homework for all subjects each night. All students from Form 3 to Form 5 have been provided with a School diary where daily entries should be made. Please support your son and us by checking his homework.

Form 6 and Form 7 students were offered a School diary free of charge in the first week of Term 1. Diaries are now available for purchase from the School Shop. Senior students will have set assignments and assessment tasks. These too should be logged in their diary so that they manage their time well.

If you have concerns about homework or assessments please contact your son’s subject teacher, Form Master or year-level Dean. Should your son not be receiving adequate homework please contact me directly.

Mountain Road

Please consider Gates 1-4 closed for vehicular access at the start and end of the School day.

It is not practical for staff to manage traffic trying to enter our gates at peak times of the School day and this poses a significant risk for the 2,700 young men who are entering or exiting the School grounds on foot.

If you are dropping your son off or picking him up, please do this in one of the streets around the School, rather than on Mountain Road, in front of the School or by trying to enter Gates 1-4. Please be aware that for health and safety reasons Barnett Crescent has electronic bollards nearest to Clive Road. These will remain up during the School day. We appreciate your co-operation in this regard.

Controlled Crossing

At the beginning and end of the day the sheer volume of students arriving or leaving the School poses an issue for motorists. We remind students and parents crossing Mountain or Clive Roads to use the crossings available, rather than crossing the road at other points of two very busy roads.

Gate 1 Opening

It is our expectation that Gate 1 and the main entrance of the School will be reopened at the beginning of Week 4.  Gate 1 is a visitors only entrance, with associated parking for parents/guests with an appointment. Parents are asked not to enter this gate or any gates for dropping off or picking up your sons. 

Parents are also reminded not to enter any of the gates to drop off or pick up your sons. This should be prearranged with your son and should away from staff car parking and all entrances to gates 1-4 and Barnett Crescent.

We appreciate your cooperation as we work to provide a safe environment for our students and staff.

Student Driven Vehicles

Form 6 or 7 students who have completed the School’s permission process to bring a vehicle to School, do have permission to drive a car to School. Students at other year levels do not have permission to drive a vehicle to School.

We remind parents and our young men that this permission does not extend to carrying passengers, unless both the School and parents have approved it in writing. This also includes driving to School-related extracurricular activities.

Please contact Deputy Headmaster Pastoral – Senior School N. Lobb for further information about student driven vehicles.

Visiting Auckland Grammar School

Parents are welcome to make appointments to meet with specialist staff including year-level Deans, the Leadership Team, counsellors and Vocational staff members.  We ask that all visitors to campus arrive for appointments via Gate 1 and sign in at Main Reception. If you are driving and have accessed a visitor car park, you are asked to log your registration plate. Cars parked on campus that are not logged in our system run the risk of being towed.   

Please do not enter the campus via any other gate while school is operational and refrain from wandering through the campus during the School day.

Daily Notices

The notices read out each day in assembly are available to all young men and parents on our website. If you would like to access these in order to discuss some of the activities available to your son, please click here.

eCommunication

We have already sent a number of key messages and reminders to parents electronically this year.  Key information for parents will continue to be sent to you electronically throughout the year.  If we do not have your current email address or current mobile number, please contact the School via email or submit the changes via the Parent Portal. 

Information regarding our electronic Parent Portal has been distributed. The Portal should provide you with ready access to some of the information we hold on your son, including his attendance record and academic results. We hope you find the Portal useful.

The School website holds considerable information about day to day School life, including the School schedule (the calendar of events and activities), staff contact details and easy access contact information for year-level Deans. We also celebrate a considerable number of student achievements on the website and our social media channels.

GrammarNet

GrammarNet, the School’s online Learning Management System, is available for all students. Currently all students have access to class pages provided and administered by each of their subject masters, as well as access to student resources, sporting and cultural groups, and storage space for their own files. Students can access GrammarNet here and typing in their school assigned username and password.

Students can use their class pages to access engaging course material and useful files and folders to augment their classroom notes and exercises. Some teachers may require students to do homework, submit work or complete tests and quizzes through the platform at times.

If the School needs to move from on-campus learning to online learning, GrammarNet will continue to be the system used. It is imperative that students are familiar with its use. More information can be found on our website here.

Extracurricular Activities

With the start of the School year, I would like to bring your attention to the wealth of extracurricular activities the School has to offer our young men. Details on these activities are being shared with the School in daily assemblies and communicated on the many noticeboards around the school. Please encourage your son to get involved with the extracurricular life of the School and start managing his time to gain the all-important balance between academic and extracurricular activities.

For further information about extracurricular activities do refer to the sports and/or daily notices sections of the School website.

As your son shows an interest in a range of extracurricular activities, the Master in Charge of that code will provide you with an indication of the fees/costs associated with each activity.

If your son elects to participate in an activity that has associated costs, an electronic invoice will be sent to you and it will appear ready for payment on the Parent Portal. We would encourage parents to use the Portal as a primary form of making payments to the School as electronic receipting is automated and we hope you find it to be a user-friendly system.

Timetable

A reminder that the organisation of the School day on Tuesdays is different to all other days of the week. Form 5 students will have an eight-period day finishing at 3:30pm, whereas all other year levels will have a seven-period day concluding at 2:50pm.

School Rules

A link to our School rules was sent home electronically to each family prior to the beginning of the academic year, and is available to view on the School website. If any of the rules are unclear or ambiguous, please contact me directly for further clarification. It is vital that our young men and parents understand what is expected of them within our School environment.

Uniform and Grooming

Please note that at any time your son chooses to wear his uniform, whether it is after school, in town, or after a practice, he is expected to wear it in appropriate fashion and with pride. He is identified as an Auckland Grammar School student and as such all school rules will apply to him while he wears our uniform. Please do not allow your son to wear partial uniform in his own time as this simply provides a perception of mediocrity.

We expect our young men to be well-groomed at all times. A haircut that meets our clearly articulated guidelines, a shirt tucked in and socks pulled up does send a clear message of belonging to all in the Grammar community and the general public.

Smart Devices

We do not permit mobile phones or smart devices being used or visible on our campus between 8am-3:30pm. We do acknowledge that some students wear smart watches. The School currently permits these to be worn for the functionality of telling the time, however, accessing digital content remains prohibited during School hours. Within the context of internal and external examinations, smart watches are not permitted to be in an examination venue.

If your son does bring a smart device (other than a watch) to School, it should be kept in his bag at all times and be switched off. We recommend such items are not brought to School as we cannot be responsible for their whereabouts or loss. Furthermore, personal electronic equipment may not be used on School trips.

If a student is found using a mobile phone or smart device it may be confiscated by a teacher and delivered to Deputy Headmaster Pastoral – Junior School D. Askew, who will store the device securely for seven days.

Your son may see him after School any time after the seventh day, after school, to retrieve the phone or device. Please help us by not requesting the device to be returned any sooner.

Auckland Transport – School Buses

Auckland Transport provide a regular School bus service that begins after school daily around 3:20pm. Please note that when the School finishes early, either at 3pm because of a wet day, or at 2:50pm on Tuesdays for all levels other than Form 5, the bus service times remain the same. Parents may wish to discuss alternative transport arrangements with your sons.

Donations

Our thanks are extended to all parents who have paid the 2024 School donation. Many parents have done this via the Parent Portal and we do appreciate your support. A written communication about this year’s donation was recently posted to parents.

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Welcome to the 2024 academic year. We once again extend a special welcome to Form 3 students, new students at all levels and parents new to Auckland Grammar School.

I do want to acknowledge our young men for their endorsement of the School’s values and expectations by returning to School on Tuesday 23 January, meeting or exceeding our expectations. With their support and the expertise of teachers, this year’s teaching programme got underway on Thursday 25 January, which has meant we have completed nine full days of teaching and we now look forward to our first full week of teaching on Monday.

Over these first few weeks of the term, I have again referenced Owen Eastwood’s book Belonging with staff and students in assembly, specifically discussing our environment and culture. In particular, I noted that:

• 70% of human behaviour is determined by the environment you are in
• 40% of the variation of happiness can be explained by environmental factors
• We cannot be a high-performance environment if we don’t feel comfortable to ask questions

To me, these are critical factors for any school to carefully consider and discuss. In our case, this involves bringing together 2,700 students and 230 staff members with common aims and purposes. Eastwood suggests in an article published in The Guardian that we need to have two conversations early:

“Firstly, about what we want to achieve together as a team; secondly, why this is good for each individual…I strongly believe you focus on building a healthy environment, and then we fine-tune performance from there.”

I have discussed this article with our staff as we work together to build and maintain a consistent, high quality and safe environment for all students, where they have equal opportunity to learn and grow. You can read the article here.

Teachers

As we started the academic year, we welcomed 17 new teachers to Grammar. All have been employed for their specialist knowledge across a range of subjects, and include teachers with extensive knowledge of both the Cambridge and NCEA qualification pathways. We look forward to their contributions throughout the year.

Prefects

Our first congratulations of the year were offered to 2024 Head Prefect T. C. Jones and Deputy Head Prefect H. P. Klouwens. At the same assembly, we also recognised the 2024 Senior Prefects: M. A. G. Galloway, S. H. A. S. Peita and M. T. Upu.

Along with the full Prefect team named at the end of the first week of term, we look forward to their leadership and the contributions they will make to Grammar life this year. More details on the 2024 Prefects can be found here.

External Examination Results

The 2023 external examination results met, and in many cases, exceeded our annual targets and we have congratulated those young men who met their potential last year. A full report on academic results will be provided in the March edition of the Bulletin. In the interim, we acknowledge the success experienced in Cambridge and NZQA Scholarship Examinations.

Our young men earned 15 awards in the Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards.  These included:

• Five High Achievement Awards (for top in New Zealand for a subject with limited entries)
• Eight Top in New Zealand Awards
• Two Top in the World Awards

In NZQA Scholarship examinations our young men earned 217 scholarships, 37 of which were graded as Outstanding scholarships. Specific congratulations to:

• Nicholas Clarke, Oliver Gunson and Jayden Kumar who have each been named as one of 10 NZQA Premier Scholars
• Top in Subject Scholarship Award winners included Oliver Gunson (Accounting and Physics), Alistair Ha (English) and Jayden Kumar (Geography)
• Outstanding Scholar Awards included Ethan Chuang, Omesh Gupta, Emmanuel Hernandez, Ramanujan Madhusudhan, Cole McCulley, Atharv Shinde, Maxmilian Sobr, Arsh Verma and Samuel Wheeler

Finally, in our first full School assembly of the year, I reminded our young men that with commitment each of them can achieve their potential as contributing members of Auckland Grammar School. Owen Eastwood said it like this:

“Belonging is never a state that is permanently achieved. Consistency in environment and the behaviour of those around us are key. Ambiguity or mixed signalling seriously elevate anxiety. Performing at something that is important to us involves stress. The question is whether we ensure it is enabling motivation, engagement or focus or allowing it to disable us through distraction, wasted energy and disconnection from others.”

When your sons follow the School’s clear direction, the guidance of teachers and treat others as they want to be treated, then they help build a positive culture and a consistent environment. There are no mixed signals at Grammar because the standards are shared, repeated, applied and the same for all. 

Those who contribute to such a culture, belong. In belonging, they can begin to perform to their potential and the stress that naturally comes with competition and life can be used to help focus and motivate them.

Per Angusta Ad Augusta

Tim O’Connor
Headmaster

The list of students who earned Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards during the 2023 external examination series has been released, and Auckland Grammar School students have done exceptionally well, with 15 awards in total (five High Achievement Awards, eight Top in New Zealand and two Top in the World Awards).

Congratulations to Form 7 student S. B. Zhang who received a High Achievement Award in AS Level French as a Form 6 student in 2023. We also congratulate the following recent leavers on their results:

• Ramanujan Madhushuhan – High Achievement Award in AS Level Economics and Top in New Zealand in A Level Economics
• Samuel Wheeler – High Achievement Award in AS Level Geography and Top in the World in A Level Geography
• Maxwell Fredrickson – High Achievement Award in AS Level History
• Angus Baker – High Achievement Award in A Level French
• Oliver Gunson (pictured above at Prizegiving in December 2023) – Top in New Zealand in AS Level Accounting and A Level Chemistry
• Roshan Ter Wal – Top in New Zealand in A Level Accounting
• Jayden Kumar – Top in New Zealand in A Level Biology
• Shaohang Tong – Top in New Zealand in A Level History
• Andi Sun – Top in New Zealand in A Level English Literature
• Yiming Luan – Top in New Zealand in A Level Physics
• Quinn Gardiner-Hall – Top in the World in AS Level Physical Education

These young men will be acknowledged at the 2023 Outstanding Cambridge Learner Awards ceremony at Eden Park on Thursday 15 February.

Over Auckland Anniversary Weekend, the Premier Water Polo competed in the Delfina Tournament, a pre-season competition with 11 other schools from around the region, hosted by Sacred Heart College.

Day one saw the team starting their competition well with wins against King’s College (10-5) and Rangitoto College (9-5). The team then met Sacred Heart College and Rosmini College on day two with two further wins (9-3 and 8-5 respectively), qualifying for the final against Tauranga Boys College.

The team played some superb Water Polo, recording a narrow 8-5 loss to finish in second place overall. This was a fantastic start to their season and puts the team in good stead ahead of their first match of the Auckland competition in two weeks.

Special thanks to Master in Charge J. Potaka, coach J. Floerchinger and Head of Sport B. Richardson for their ongoing support and guidance of the team.