Napier Girls' High School is a state secondary school on Clyde Road, Napier, New Zealand. It is one of the oldest schools in New Zealand for girls, and has a current school roll of about 1000.[3]
| Napier Girls' High School | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
 | |
Clyde Road Napier 4110 New Zealand | |
| Coordinates | 39°29′09″S 176°54′52″E / 39.4857°S 176.9145°E |
| Information | |
| Type | State, Girls, Secondary with boarding facilities |
| Motto | Ad Lucem "Towards the Light" |
| Established | 1884 |
| Ministry of Education Institution no. | 217 |
| Principal | Dawn Ackroyd |
| School roll | 1031[1] (August 2024) |
| Socio-economic decile | 6N[2] |
| Website | www |
History
editIn July 1883 plans were submitted to the board of governors for a school for girls in Napier, and the following month the board advertised for a lady principal who would be required to teach English, Latin, French and mathematics and take charge of the boarding establishment.[4] Mary Hewett was appointed, and the school opened on 29 January 1884. The original school course included English, French, Latin, German, drawing, singing and calisthenics. 39 pupils were on the books that first day, and one boarder was enrolled.[5]
The original school building had classrooms on the ground floor, and rooms for the boarders upstairs. It stood where the main hostel building, Hewett House, now stands. It was badly damaged in the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, and had to be demolished. The main building of the present school, named Spencer Building after A.E.J. Spencer, the school's third principal, stands in what was the original playing area of the first school.[citation needed] After bad damage, Napier Technical College was disestablished by the minister of education and was almalgamated into Napier Girls' High School and Napier Boys' High School.[6]
The entrance to the school hall features a large mural painting by renowned New Zealand artist, Rita Angus.[7][8]
Hewett House provides boarding accommodation for 160 boarders adjacent to the school, including five day and seven day stay. The girls are housed in double cubicles or dormitories, and some have single rooms. Matthews House accommodation opened in 1988, and contains single cubicles for senior girls.
Notable alumnae
edit- Mandy Boyd (1991–), lawn bowls player[9]
- Helen Margaret Druce (1921–2010), teacher, tramper and botanist[10]
- Amy Hutchinson (1874–1971), school hostel matron, spinner and weaver, community leader.[11]
- Aliesha Staples, digital technology entrepreneur[12]
- Jacquie Sturm (1927–2009), poet and writer of short stories[13]
- Emma Twigg (1987–), rower[14]
Notable faculty
edit- Katherine Browning (1864–1946), former mathematics teacher and notable published scientist[15]
- June Clifford (retired 2008), former head of music and chair of Chamber Music New Zealand[16]
References
edit- ^ "New Zealand Schools Directory". New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
- ^ "Decile Change 2014 to 2015 for State & State Integrated Schools". Ministry of Education. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ^ "Napier Girls' High School | Education Review Office". ero.govt.nz. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ^ Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Hewett, Mary Elizabeth Grenside". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ^ "Napier Girls High School". www.nghs.school.nz. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ^ "H B Heritage News" (PDF). historicplacesaotearoa.govt.nz. 1 May 2014. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
- ^ Angus, Rita; Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "'Study for memorial mural', 1960". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ^ Architects (www.nzia.co.nz), NZ Institute of. "Napier Girls' High School – New Hall Entrance". NZ Institute of Architects (www.nzia.co.nz). Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ^ Johnson, Robert (14 June 2012). "Young bowler is queen of the green". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
- ^ Simpson, Neill; Simpson, Barbara (1 January 2011). "Obituary: Helen Margaret Druce M.A. Geography, Canterbury College 1921–2010". Wellington Botanical Society Bulletin. 53: 8–10.
- ^ Upton, Susan. "Amy Hadfield Hutchinson". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- ^ "Another accolade for 'tech geek'". NZ Herald. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ Millar, Paul. "Sturm, Jacqueline Cecilia". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
- ^ "Rowing: Emma Twigg's powered to dig deep for gold". NZ Herald. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
- ^ Creese, Mary R. S (2010). South African, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian women in science: nineteenth and early twentieth centuries ; a survey of their contributions. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7288-2. OCLC 699866310.
- ^ "June Clifford, Napier, CNZM | The Governor-General of New Zealand". gg.govt.nz. Retrieved 30 March 2022.