Head Boys

Albert Lindsay Carson  (Attended King’s High School from 1937 to 1942)

William George. Clayton  (Attended King’s High School from 1938 to 1942)

Ronald. William Smith  (Attended King’s High School from 1937 to 1942)

1947.   Hugh Campbell Templeton (Attended King’s High School from 1945 to 1947)

Hugh was Head Prefect in 1947, CSM of B Company in the Military Cadets and a member of the rugby committee. At the Prize giving he was awarded a General Excellence Price in English, French, Latin and History. He was a member of the First Rugby Fifteen and the First Cricket Eleven.

Hugh Templeton was born in Wyndham, Southland, in 1929. He was educated at Gore High School, King’s High School, the University of Otago, and then as a Rhodes Scholar at Balliol College, Oxford University in 1952–53.

From 1954 to 1969 Hugh served with the New Zealand Department of External Affairs, first in London, and then in Wellington, before going as the last Deputy High Commissioner of Western Samoa to prepare specially for independence and then to New York to assist secure Samoa’s post-independence aid programmes, under Guy Powles. From 1965 to 1969 Hugh served in Wellington working on Asian and European and Defence affairs, before being elected to Parliament.

Hugh was elected as MP for Awarua in Southland in 1969 to 1972 From 1972–1975, he was executive assistant to the Leaders of the Opposition, Jack Marshall and then Robert Muldoon. He was re-elected to Parliament in 1975 for the Wellington electorate of Karori. The electorate was renamed Ohariu and was represented by Templeton until the 1984 election.

He was appointed to various positions in communications and economic portfolios during the Muldoon National Government of 1975–1984. Hugh was Minister of Revenue (1977–1982) and Minister of Trade and Industry (1981–1984) with responsibility for ANZCER (Australia – New Zealand Closer Economic Relations free trade agreement). He also worked with the Prime Minister on stimulating New Zealand’s onshore petroleum programme as part of Think Big. He wrote a book All Honourable Men: Inside the Muldoon Cabinet 1975–1984 on this period.

Hugh lost his seat with the election of the Fourth Labour Government in 1984.

Companion of the Queen’s Service Order for public services.

Lee David Smith (At King’s High School from 1959 to 1964)

Lee was a School Prefect in 1963 and Head Prefect in 1964. He was a Warrant Officer first Class in the School Cadet Battalion and commanded the Battalion when on parade. He played in the First Fifteen in 1963 and was the Captain in 1964. He was awarded a School Blue for Rugby and Basketball in 1962, 1963 and 1964.  Lee was a member of the Otago Men’s Junior Basketball Representative Team in 1963 and the Otago Under 19 team in 1964.

On leaving school he joined the teaching profession.  He started coaching rugby and coached secondary school, senior club rugby at Southern and then University, and then for Otago at provincial level for three years before working with the NZRU from 1988 to 1996. He joined the International rugby board as Director of Development from 1996 to 2001 and as Oceania Development Manager from 2001 to 2010. Lee conducted coaching and performance planning courses in rugby unions around the world. The coaching strategies and methodology Lee developed at the NZRU continue to be used internationally, and his work has been translated into many languages. Since then, Lee has been a Performance Consultant, World Rugby licensed trainer, and rugby coaching advisor based in Auckland, New Zealand.

M. C. Cooper

W. R. Lees

Ross was Head Prefect in 1969, First Rugby Fifteen and the 1969 Athletics Team.
Prof Ross Notman (68) will retire as the University of Otago College of Education dean late this month, nearly 45 years after starting his teaching career at Taieri High School. There he taught English and French, and later Latin, classics, and physical education. He then taught in London, in Hounslow and Brentford, before returning to Dunedin’s Bayfield High School where he became deputy principal.
In 1990, Ross was seconded to the then Dunedin College of Education to become the secondary director of School Advisory Services.
There, he ran INSET (in-service training) courses for Otago and Southland teachers and supported a team of advisers seconded from schools around New Zealand.
In 1999, he joined the university’s Faculty of Education as foundation co-ordinator of secondary teacher education.
He was also the founding head of the college’s department of education studies and professional practice (2007-08) after the college and university merged. He was the foundation Head of Department, Education Studies and Professional Practice, at the new University of Otago College of Education between 2007 and 2008. In 2009, he was a Visiting Fellow to the Teacher and Leadership Research Centre at the University of Nottingham.
Ross has been the director of Otago’s Centre for Educational Leadership and Administration since its establishment in 2010. He became Professor and Dean of the College of Education in 2017.
Ross has long been a member of several international organisations, has published extensively on school leadership, and has long been involved in professional development courses.
A keen tramper, he also hopes to complete more of New Zealand’s Great Walks, to enjoy biking, music and spending time with his children and grandchildren, and to ‘‘attend more rugby matches’’.

1970     Philip John Craigie (At Kings1965 – 1970)

Philip was Head Boy at Kings in 1970. He played in the school brass band from 1965 to 1970.

During his 40-year teaching career, he was head of music at Riccarton High School and Otago Boys’ High School, before being appointed deputy principal at Taieri College (formerly Taieri High School) and principal at Kaikorai Valley College.

During this time, he was heavily involved with the Otago Secondary Schools Music Festival committee and helped prepare the constitution for it to become an incorporated society.

He has also taught many pupils to play brass instruments through schools, community music programmes, and as a casual teacher.

On top of his busy life in secondary education, he has been the musical director of the Mosgiel Brass Band since 1988.

He has also been involved with St Kilda Brass, conducted the Otago Symphonic Band, conducted and led the Celebration Singers on several national tours and a tour to Tasmania, and under his leadership the choir produced four records.

Philip also undertook the mammoth role of chairing the organising committee for the North Taieri Presbyterian Church’s 150th-anniversary celebrations in 2016.

Philip has contributed to the music community as a performer, teacher, mentor, and musical director since he was in his teens.

Glenn Ivan Denham (At King’s High School from 1977 to 1982)

Glenn was born 22 March 1964 in Dunedin, the son of a teacher and butcher. His father was Australian and his mother was of Māori descent and his iwi affiliation is Te Arawa. He is the second of three children and grew up in Corstorphine, where he attended Corstorphine Primary School, and later MacAndrew Intermediate School. Glenn went to Kings High School from 1977 to 1982, where he was Head Boy in 1981 and 1982. Whilst attending Kings, He played cricket and hit 100 runs against Shirley Boys in 1982, and won the Salter Trophy, which is awarded to the school’s sportsman of the year.  Glenn’s main sport however, was basketball. He said he could remember every player in the school’s team in 1982, when it played Church College of New Zealand in the national schools final in Hamilton.

He attended Otago University in 1982, where he met his future wife and graduated with a Bachelor of Teaching. Whilst at university, He played for the Otago University men’s basketball club.

Glenn made his National Basketball League debut in 1986 for the Waikato Pistons, later moving to play for the Canterbury Rams, winning championships in 1989 and 1990. He moved back to Dunedin in 1991 and played for the Otago Nuggets until 1997and again in 1999. During his international career between 1984 and 1999, he captained the Tall Blacks for 13 years, setting a record as the longest standing captain in Tall Blacks history. He was also named most outstanding New Zealand forward three times. He played in the 1986 FIBA World Championship,

Although he is one of New Zealand’s greatest basketballers, but Glen Denham would rather be remembered for his teaching

. When his playing days came to an end in 2000, he and wife Anne headed to London, where a one-year sabbatical turned into 15 years of living and working in the city.

Denham went from being a teacher to a deputy principal within a year, and eventually became an executive principal. In that role, he was in charge of three secondary schools and four primary schools.

He spent the past three years in the role, before being lured back to New Zealand to take up his job in Auckland at the start of the year. Glenn is currently the principal of Massey High School in Auckland.

Glenn has been inducted into the school’s wall of fame.

Grant Robertson (At King’s High School from 1985 to 1989)

Grant was Head Boy and Proxime Accessit to the Dux. He was winner of the Jubilee Scholarship, an All-Round Merit Award, the Form 7 History Prize and a Service award for working on the School magazine.  Grant was awarded a School Blue for Debating. He was elected a student representative on the School Board of Trustees, he was a member of the School Council and he was Chairman/Treasurer for the School Formal.  Grant played in the Second Rugby XV, the 7^th Form Social Basketball Team and the Third Cricket Eleven.

On leaving school Grant studied political studies at the University of Otago, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts with honours in 1995. His honours dissertation studied the restructuring of the New Zealand University Students’ Association in the 1980s. Robertson served as President of the Otago University Students’ Association in 1993 and as Co-President of the New Zealand University Students’ Association in 1996.

Grant joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1997 after leaving university. His overseas postings included the United Nations in New York. Grant also managed the NZ Overseas Aid Programme to Samoa – a $7.7 million fund with projects in diverse areas such as basic education, healthcare, public sector capacity building, small business development and the empowerment of women.  He left MFAT in 2001.

Grant returned to New Zealand during the first term of the Fifth Labour Government to work as a Ministerial advisor to Minister for the Environment Marian Hobbs and later Prime Minister Helen Clark. Following this, he took a business development role with the University of Otago, working with researchers, investors and businesses to develop and commercialise the university’s world-leading research.

Grant’s belief in social justice and a desire to see every New Zealander achieve their potential led him to politics, and he has been the Member of Parliament for Wellington Central since November 2008. In Opposition, Grant held a range of portfolios, including Finance from 2014 to 2017.

After the 2017 election, Grant was appointed Minister of Finance, Minister for Sport and Recreation, and Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage.

In November 2020, Grant was named Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand by Jacinda Ardern. He will assume the role on 6 November.

He lists his hobbies as watching rugby, football and cricket, playing indoor netball and squash, cooking, watching movies, listening to Kiwi music and reading.

Tony Allison – Kings High School 1991 – 1994

Tony was Head Prefect at Kings in 1994. He played in the School First Rugby Fifteen and was selected for the Otago Secondary Schools Team.
Tony is chairman of the Dunedin Airport Board. He is a director of the Delta Utility Services Board and Managing Director of Visionalli a company which provides advice and assistance to businesses wanting to reach the next level, need an experienced and balanced advisor, a coach or governance input. He is an experienced chief executive with a long working history in finance and the retail industry. Previous roles have included Finance Director of a London law firm and Chief Operating Officer at Calder Stewart Industries. He is currently the chief executive of Night ‘n Day food stores and a board director of the Smith City Group. Tony has a BCom and BA from the University of Otago and is both a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors.

Joint Head Boys  Kaine Hokianga and Robbie McIlraith 1999

Isaia Piho – Deputy, Luke Tweed – Headboy, Mr Hocking, Matthew Dadley – Deputy

Malachi, has been selected for the men’s junior Black Sticks hockey squad for the second time. Last year played for the junior Black Sticks in a tournament in Australia.

George Bates has been recognised among the country’s highest achieving pupils for 2019.

The Top Scholar Awards celebrated outstanding achievement in New Zealand Scholarship examinations, and top subject scholars had gained the highest score in the country for that subject, a New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) spokesman said yesterday.

George’s premier award recognised his having achieved “outstanding scholarships” in chemistry, calculus and statistics, and scholarships in English and physics.

He did this while studying Level 3 NCEA year 13 subjects when he was in year 12 (6^th form).

In 2018 he attained Scholarship in Calculus and Statistics, including an Outstanding Scholarship in Calculus while in Year 11 (5^th Form)

George received the King’s High School, Bremner Scholarship the premier Year 12 award for academic excellence at the 2019 prize giving.