The recently retired headmaster of Auckland Grammar School, is praising a project that's enabled Maori and Pacific Island students from rural communities to attend the school.
The United Maori Mission is in the second year of delivering the programme called the In Zone Project.
This year nearly 50 students are living in one of the mission's hostels in Epsom, and are studying at Auckland Grammar.
The mission and the school have a strong relationship, but it's an informal one.
John Morris, who retired as headmaster last week, says when the project was first set up he did have some concerns, such as whether they would just show up at school and whether they would fit in.
But he says the project has been good for both the school and the Maori and Pasifika students.
Mr Morris says the boys have contributed greatly to the school's cultural side such as kapa haka, and academically they've shown remarkable improvement.
He says one student who last year started at the bottom of his third form class, has improved his results seven fold, just by working hard and being part of a structured programme.
