Dr Morehu Ngatoko Rahipere MNZM
02.12.1927 - 20.2.2018

Dr Ngatoko Rahipere could whakapapa to Ngāi Tamarawaho, Ngāti Rangi hapu of Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāi Te Rangi, including Ngāti Awa. 

Dr Ngatoko Rahipere, better known as Morehu Ngatoko, was an acknowledged leader, an exponent of tribal lore and narratives and a man of mana who was able to draw his people together.  He selflessly gave of his time and skills for the public good and was passionate about the role and power of education to enable people to meet their aspirations.  He led many initiatives, including the establishment of the Maharaia Winiata Research Institute in Tauranga.  He was deeply involved in the Te Kotahitanga research programme, providing strong cultural guidance.  He led by example in many areas and held enormous respect across the political spectrum.  He was one of a team instrumental in advancing the return of Mauao to the people and his expertise and knowledge in tikanga and kawa has ensured the mountain is protected and its cultural integrity is maintained.  

Dr Ngatoko Rahipere was a loved and deeply respected Kaumatua of Tauranga Boys’ College.  In 2007 he became a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to Māori.  In October 2015 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Waikato, the most prestigious award that the University can bestow.   

A recent assembly celebrated the cultural diversity of Tauranga Boys' College.  Shared below are speeches by our Head Boy, Taine Larsen and
International Head Boy, Min-Hyeol - Chad Kang.  

Taine Larsen

Two weeks ago we acknowledged the QSA group, to inspire change within our culture here at school, today we do the same for cultural diversity.  Culture is important, important to all of us, it is who we are, what we know and what we believe. Our culture is what we are born with, we cannot change it, therefore we must embrace it. 

Look around you now, have a look, these are your brothers, I think that's something we take for granted often. Our brothers come in all shapes and sizes, different cultures, sexualities, just the same as we are different heights, weights and strengths.   Our diversity is a huge asset for us, imagine if the school had 2100 clones of you. I emphasise this point as we can achieve unity through diversity.  But if diversity is an asset, why do we not embrace everyone, why do we separate ourselves, limit our involvement and discriminate others because of something we can’t change. 

Up on stage are just a few great examples of cultural diversity within our school. 

Ko Kopukairoa te maunga
Ko waitao te awa
Ko Mataatua te waka
Ko Ngati Pukenga te iwi
Ko te whetu o te rangi te marae

Aronui head boy, leader of te Tauranga o ngawaka and the brother with the mullet.
Ko te Kirikau Blake tonu ingoa

Yusuke Takahashi, from Japan. He has been in New Zealand for two and a half years. He grew up in Tokushima, one of the smallest prefectures in Japan. He is also an amazing musician, playing in the NZSO and NZYSW. 

Hemi Tulemau, Samoan/Maori. On his fathers side hailing from the village of Falefa in Samoa. On his Mother’s side he descends from the Mataatua waka through the Iwi of Ngai Te Rangi and Ngati Awa, belonging to the hapu Ngati Kuku and Patuwai.  

Binew Illangamudalige, an allrounded man from Sri Lanka, and island that lies in the Indian Ocean. Sri Lanka is best known abroad for its Cricket, food, Religions, and Cultural exports, often referred to as the 'pearl of the Indian ocean'. 

Reuben Palmer, a giant of a rugby player, who grew up in Sydney, Australia and attended Newington College. In 2019, Reuben and his family made the move from the big city of 5 million to little old tauranga. He says that, because of the range of diversity at TBC, it was fairly easy to settle in. 

Gus Shivnan, our sport captain. Gus has english and irish ancestors and he has grown up in Mt Maunganui pretty much his whole life. 

Michael Ren is an international student from China, he lived in a city called Chengdu and came to New Zealand in 2015.

I am half Filipinio and half pakeha, but or a long time I didn’t know what ethnicity i was, questioning my own culture. But really, I think this was a gift, allowing me do choose who I wanted to be. I indulged in Kapa Haka, mandarin, arts, sports and academics. 

So before I pass over to Chad id like take ask you two questions. 

 1. Do you limit yourself based on cultural stigmas or the expectation around people of your heritage? 

2. Imagine you were in another country, people look different maybe even speak another language, no one wants to sit by you or talk to you just because you are “diverse”. How would you like to be treated? 

Today, I am here to tell you guys a bit of a story of myself as a student from a different country that goes to school in NZ and how I ended up doing the speech in in front of the whole school with the language that I’m not even that good at.

This whole story starts from May of 2019 which was my first year in NZ. Actually, TBC is not my first school in NZ. It was a high school in Palmerston North. Back then, I was so full of excitement and anticipation that I couldn’t wait to talk to people with the language I was so passionate about learning and to experience new things in such a new culture. Unfortunately, it didn’t last for that long. The language barrier was higher than I expected and being included in the local community was harder than I imagined. The excitement and anticipation that motivated me to step forward soon turned into self - disappointment and fear of getting rejected by others.

Of course, I looked different and spoke little English, but I also had a strong cultural colour which is obvious since I spent way more time in Korea than I did in NZ. The way I was speaking, the way I was thinking, the way I was behaving, the way I was joking, the way I was eating and everything, every small thing was similar but different to other students due to my cultural colour. These differences between myself and other students made an invisible wall which prevented both me and other students from approaching each other. As a result, by the end of the year, I learned nothing but how to greet in several asian languages as people kept saying “Nihao” or “goniziwa” every time they walked past me. And I also gained nothing, but an uncle named Kim Jung Un somehow by the end of the year. I was thinking “Surely, I can learn something more than how to say “hi” in other Asian languages. Surely, I can gain something more than an uncle named Kim Jung Un, paying $15000 per a year just to come to school”. 

Since then, I decided to change, and I had to change. So, I started to observe those who came from different cultures like me but got along with local students well. And I found out that they were trying to be exactly like other students at school. You see, here’s an important thing: They were not like other students for sure, but they were trying to be like other students at school. They tried to think, talk and behave like other students. So, I decided to do the same thing. I had to hide my cultural colour and become a “normal” student at school. Even though it took some time it worked really well, and I could finally build some friendships with local students and be included in the local community more.  I will be honest with you, I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed being treated like others and being identified as a normal student. The invisible wall blocking me and other local students was gone like it never existed and I felt a sense of belonging. But It felt like I had two identities, inside and outside the school. When I was Inside the school, I would be a person who prefer to eat sandwiches for lunch instead of rice and call K-pop as gay-pop. But, when I was outside the school, I couldn’t have a singlemeal without  kimchi and I could dance for an hour just listening to “gangnam style”.

I love eating rice and listening to K-pop but I had to pretend like I don’t because that was the way to survive from being just a quiet and mysterious Asian who is super good at maths at school, which wasn’t me again because I wasn’t good at maths. As you could imagine, I couldn’t handle the confusion in me by having two different identities and soon gave up trying to be like other normal students. And, as expected, the invisible wall between me and other students at school started to be built again.  

We understand your stances. Why would you want to try to understand and talk to people who don’t speak English that well and have different cultural backgrounds to yours when you’re busy talking to your mates who are fluent at English and from similar cultural backgrounds. There is no motivation or reason for you guys to make this change at school. We understand and that’s what we’re going to do, giving you guys a motivation and reason to try to understand us. But as I said, we can’t do it without your support. 

I’m not asking you to feel sorry for me or other international students. I am telling this hoping this might help you guys understand a bit more about the circumstances of students from different cultures, so maybe next time, when you see students struggling to speak English, you choose to help them out instead of laughing at them. Maybe, next time, when you see students expressing their cultural colour, you choose to try understanding them instead of ignoring and staring at them like they are not “normal”. And, If you bring those little changes and efforts into our school, I believe we will be able to give an actual impact to our community.

Cultural differences should not separate us from each other, but rather cultural diversity brings a collective strength that can benefit our school community and I’m looking forward to bring that collective strength with you, altogether, by breaking down that invisible wall existing among us.

Thank you.

• 3rd Cameron Fitzjohn
• 5th Caleb Litolff
• 6th Stefan Pendergrast

• 1st George Wyllie
• 3rd James Catto

• 1st Matt Hill
• 4th Azrael Cabusao

• Year 9: 1st
• Junior: 1st
• Senior: 1st

• Year 9: 1st
• Junior: 1st

Gus Shivnan (Y13) has qualified for the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Games to be held in Honolulu, Hawaii from 24 – 27 August. The team consists of 16 girls and 7 boys.  Gus has also qualified for the Junior Black Fins team to compete at the Lifesaving World Championships 2022.

The Team, composed of six females and six males, will compete in the Youth (U19) division in a variety of pool rescue, ocean and beach events.  With the 2020 World Championships postponed due to COVID, the Junior Black Fins will finally get the chance to wear the NZ Black beanie for the first time. The Championships will be held in Riccione, Italy from September 21 – October 2.

The visit was towards students working towards 2 internals, 1 on the environmental impact of kiwifruit production and the other about plant management practices. As the gold licences now achieved $800,000 per hectare, Southern Cross Horticulture provides a complete end-to-end specialist team that will convert bare land into full canopy within a reduced number of years. 

The Future Pathways Department continues to work hard on getting boys into work and tertiary study. The next big step is university applications. A session will be held for all students intending to attend university during 2023 on Friday the 1st of July. All information that students need about university applications, scholarships and accommodation will be passed on then. 

In the meantime we continue to have a significant number of businesses who have approached us for potential employees and students who are looking to get into part time or full time employment should contact us at any time. 

For the last two weeks the Homo Haia Homework Hub has been in operation. This action of homework support has been great in terms of giving students extra help with assessments, exam preparation and genuine study tips. In the last session, former Head Boy Elijah Taula zoomed in to give the students some insight to life in the Royal NZ Navy and tips to ensure success when moving through your school years. This will continue right up until the end of term. 

The ‘Garden Shed’ building and construction project for our STP students is getting close to being water tight. The frames are all now standing with the plywood and batten cladding also complete. By the end of the term the corrugated iron roof will be in place which will leave only painting and the construction and installation of the barn doors remaining before the students will be looking to market and sell to the public. 

• Uniform prices
• Sales of new and second hand uniforms
• Uniform shop hours (please note updated hours) 
• Holiday trading hours

• Year 13:   Mr Justin Brewer
• Year 12:   Mr Aaron Leech
• Year 11:   Mr Charles Williams
• Year 10:   Ms Vicky Lacey 
• Year 9:     Ms Jana Pretorius

• Year 13:   Mr Tane Taitoko
• Year 12:   Mr Dan Anson
• Year 11:   Mr Richard Apanui
• Year 10:   Mr Hamish Boyce
• Year 9:     Mr Alex Bryant

• If your son is away for any reason please advise the school.  You can do this via the parent portal.  Login to www.tbc.school.nz using your son's ID and your parent portal login password.  Or you can email attendance@tbc.school.nz or phone the school office on 07 578 4029.  You can also monitor your son's attendance via the portal.  If you son is unwell for more than 3 days a medial certificate may be requested.  Text messages are sent home but not daily so it is recommended that you keep an eye on your son's attendance and if you have any concerns, please contact the school via either the attendance officer or your son's Dean.

• If your son is going to be out of school for an extended length of time, including sporting and cultural commitments, permission is required from the Principal.  Please send your request to principal@tbc.school.nz