Head Boy James Harper

Ko Takitimu te waka

Ko Kahuranaki te maunga

Ko Ngaruroro Mokotuararo ki Rangatira te awa

Ko Ngati Kahungunu te iwi

Ko Nga Tamatane o Heretaunga te kura

Ko te Manu Huia te tohu

Ko te tohu te mana

Ko te mana te rangatira

Ko te Rangatira ko Akina

Akina Akina tukua

Kia Ora, my name is James Harper.

I am very privileged and honoured to have been offered the opportunity of leading Hastings Boys’ High School as Head Boy for 2023. I was born in Hastings and have grown up in Hawkes Bay, attending Twyford Primary School and Heretaunga Intermediate before studying here at Hastings Boys' High School. I come from a family of four. My mother is an accounts manager at an Intermediate School, my father is a harvester, stump grinder, and arborist tree surgeon, and my older sister is a student studying accounting at Massey University Palmerston North. I enjoy playing and watching sports, especially cricket, rugby, touch rugby and basketball. In my spare time, I enjoy listening to music, visiting the beach, and spending time with family and friends.

During my time here at school, I have tried to implement and apply myself in multiple opportunities that would allow me to develop my skills and overall growth as an individual and within a group, such as throughout all five areas of the school. I have strived to do and give my best effort through leadership, academics, sport, community service and lastly culture. Involved in a variety of activities and events, I am proud that I have contributed towards all aspects.

Hastings Boys’ High School has provided me many openings that have helped me develop into the young Akina man I am today. I see the role of prefect as an advantage to connect and engage with a wider range of people, ultimately giving back to the school and the local community. It is my chance to build on the legacy that those before me have created and left. It is an opportunity to add to the culture of the school by striving daily to live by and promote the seven Akina man values. During my special time at the Outward Bound Leadership Course, I am appreciative to have learnt how a true role model performs about the important values in life, including perseverance, passion, trust, bravery, self belief, peace and gratitude. These are just some of the quality attributes I look forward to instilling within the Prefect group of this exciting year of 2023. 

Kahore taku toa i te toa takitahi, he toa takitini.

We cannot succeed without the support of those around us.