"I am the mother of three boys aged 11, 10 , 8, and listened avidly to your speaker regarding the mindsets of boys. I agree, whole heartedly with him, having been in secondary education for 10 years at Matamata College, a mixed secondary school. I found with the best will in the world, it took me five years of teaching 30 teens, six times a day, five days a week, to think that I finally had teenagers sorted out.
So what hope do parents have!
It was quite a revelation then also to find that boys and girls are very different in how they tackle tasks and the reward systems or drivers that inspire them and spur them on to continue to improve are so different. My husband and brother spent the years from when they were eight years old at a tiny wee boarding school for boys near Timaru called Waihi. After being at a reunion the Headmaster said to us parents, "If there is one message I can send to you parents is " mothers, let your sons go".
That provoked a lot of thought, and I saw what the experiences at Waihi had done for all those boys at the reunion who loved the school, and found out the thrilling things they had got up to. We decided to send our boys to a school with similar aspirations for boys, called Hereworth (in Havelock North) an hour from where we live, when they reached nine. We still have one at the local primary school which has excellent community support and great management and teaching with a glowing ERO report.
However as older parents, we too spotted the trend in education and realised the value of an all round education with the importance of manners and very channelled discipline designed for boys. The outstanding difference in our two boys who are at Hereworth, has almost brought us to tears.
The total focus of the school on your son achieving his maximum potential through those years he is there has made us realise the value of places like this. It is designed for boys, mothers are valued and welcomed, hugs are cool, and best of all, being a top student, being polite, being in the choir, being great at art and sport are also all cool.
That gives the boys such a strong sense of self, they never lose it. Already our boys have a stronger focus and attitude to life, and I have realised the importance of great mentors the staff offer, and the positive roles they play in a boys life. They are kept busy and no one is able to slink by without notice, which is important for boys.
Boys are such wonderful creatures, and some day this generation will be making decisions for this country as will the equally wonderful girls in their lives, so let us make the most of those ages when they will still listen to their parents."