From the President

This year marks the 109th year of the Christchurch Boys’ High School Old Boys Association. At the AGM earlier this year I succeeded John Osborne as President and I, along with others on the Association Executive, would like to acknowledge the contribution John has made over many years to the School community as a Board Member and Chair, along with the Old Boys Association. I for one am pleased that John remains an active and willing member of the Old Boys Association committee.

In February the Old Boys Association made a commitment to support the headmaster’s public statements about the value of diversity, and we continue to support the school in its moves to champion inclusivity as well as our own objectives.

The Association wholly supports the School, as it works to promote the values of gratitude, inclusivity and diversity. The Association in affirmation of the goals is taking the actions below.

• Publicly supporting the message of the school that all students are valued.

• Organising events that promote and celebrate the diversity amongst our association’s membership.

• Being visible at school events such as the mihi whakatau to make sure that students feel welcome as future members of the Association.

• Recognising and awarding recognition to former students who have through service, contributed to society and, through the school, enabling them to be examples to the school’s current students.

The Old Boys Association was formed to enable Old Boys to remain in contact with other Old Boys and the school and we welcome all former students regardless of religion, ethnicity or sexuality to reconnect  with  the School community.

A primary objective for the Association is to continually grow our email database, and in turn provide events and other opportunities for Old Boys to connect, reminisce and collaborate together. 

In the past year we have grown the Old Boys Association database by nearly 400%. This remains a core focus for the Executive Committee, as we focus on building a database with over 10,000 Old Boys on it by the end of 2022.

All old boys by right become ‘members’ of the Old Boys Association at the time they leave Straven Road. However, for us to be able to maintain an up-to-date database and means of communication we invite all Old Boys to follow us on Facebook AND complete the sign-up form that can be found on the Facebook page.

2021 has been another year disrupted by COVID, which has seen many of our planned activities postponed or cancelled. We were pleased to be able to host our first ‘Old Boys Association Long Lunch’ and the annual luncheon prior to the College Rugby Game.

The ‘Long Lunch’ was held on the eve of the World Test Cricket Championship Final, with Black Caps Leg Spinner and Old Boy Todd Astle as our guest speaker. We were grateful to be hosted at the Canterbury Club and welcomed over 70 guests for an enjoyable afternoon of networking, laughter and insight into the life of a professional cricketer. It is our intention that the ‘Long Lunch’ will become a regular event, focussing on either Sport, Business or Culture / Arts.

Every year in conjunction with Schools Founders Day assembly the Old Boys Association awards the “Altiora Peto” Medal to an Old Boy who ‘Seeks Higher Things’ and serves as a role model to the boys at School now. The 2021 Altiora Peto Medal was awarded to the family of John Osmers as John died during 2021. 

Mr Osmers was a student at CBHS in the early 1950’s and went on to become the Anglican Bishop of Eastern Zambia from 1995 to 2002. In the 2007 Queen’s Birthday Honours, Mr Osmers was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the Anglican Church. In 2012, he was given a special Centennial Award in Wellington by the ANC for his involvement in the anti-apartheid movement. Along with Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former President Kenneth Kaunda, Mr Osmers received the Archbishop of Cape Town's Award for Peace with Justice in 2016.

We thank and acknowledge the courage and commitment that Mr Osmers showed over many years and pass our collective thoughts and well-wishers on to his family.

Earlier in the year much was made in the media of the Ministry of Educations review of the High School Enrolment Scheme. If successful, this could have stopped out-of-zone children of former pupils being unable to attend the same school as their parents. Our Secretary, Chris Carthy put in an extreme amount of effort to lobby and work with other schools to raise the awareness of this issue and we were very pleased to learn that no changes would be forthcoming in this area. 

At the beginning of each Executive Committee meeting, we take a moment to acknowledge and recognise those Old Boys that have died since the last meeting. Our thanks to Barrie Johnson for his efforts to keep these records up to date. Since the beginning of 2021, 103 Old Boys have passed away and our thoughts and well wishes are with all their families. 

The Association would simply not exist and be available to Old Boys without the support of many people including Branch Managers throughout New Zealand and dotted around the globe, the support of key School Members including Mr Hill (Headmaster), Mr Fraser (Deputy Headmaster) and administration staff Ms. J Lowe, Ms. R Rodgers, and Mrs. S James.

My thanks to the Executive Committee of Chris Carthy (Secretary), Sam Watt (Treasurer), John Osborne (Past President), Martin Perry, Andrew Dorgan, John Clark, Terry Donaldson, Sam Cherry, Defyd Williams, Colin Freeman, Geoff Thomas and Barrie Johnson. 

This group continues to work hard to achieve our objectives and ensure the Old Boys Association is a strong and valued part of the wider school community.

A final welcome to the Fine Young Men leaving school this year as new members of the Christchurch Boys’ High School Old Boys Association. We look forward to meeting you and helping you on your journey to ‘Seek Higher Things’.

Altiora Peto

Simon Carter

President CBHS Old Boys Association