Waitaki Boys' High School | |
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Location | |
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Coordinates | 45°04′37″S170°59′41″E / 45.0769°S 170.9946°E |
Information | |
Type | State, Boys, Secondary years 9–15 |
Motto | Latin: Quanti est sapere (How valuable is Wisdom) |
Established | 1883 |
Ministry of Education Institution no. | 365 |
Rector | Darryl Paterson [1] |
School roll | 404 [2] (November 2024) |
Socio-economic decile | 6N [3] |
Website | waitakibhs.school.nz |
Waitaki Boys' High School is a secondary school for boys located in the northern part of the town of Oamaru, Otago, New Zealand, with day and boarding facilities, and was founded in 1883. [4] As of 2020 [update] , it has a school roll of approximately 400 students. [5]
The school has a house system with four houses, Don, Forrester, Lee and Sutherland. It organises some cultural activities together with its nearby sister school, Waitaki Girls' High School.
The school is notable for its British colonial architecture, encompassing such historic buildings such as the Hall of Memories, an assembly hall, built to honour its former pupils who died in various wars. Most of the blocks of classrooms at Waitaki Boys High School are named after famous past students, also known as Waitakians or Old Boys. The main, and oldest block of the school is named after Denis Blundell.
The idea of establishing a boys' high school in Oamaru originated with Samuel Shrimski, who was one of the two members of parliament representing the Waitaki electorate. [6]
As of November 2024, the school has roll of 404 students, of which 70 (17.3%) identify as Māori. [2]
As of 2024, the school has an Equity Index of 484, [7] placing it amongst schools whose students have above average socioeconomic barriers to achievement (roughly equivalent to decile 4 under the former socio-economic decile system). [8]
The following is a complete list of the rectors of Waitaki Boys' High School:
Name | Term | |
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1 | John Harkness | 1883–1896 [9] |
2 | John Robert Don | 1897–1906 [10] |
3 | Frank Milner | 1906–1944 [11] |
4 | Jim Burrows | 1945–1949 [12] |
5 | Malcolm Leadbetter | 1950–1960 |
6 | John Hammond Donaldson | 1961–1976 [13] |
7 | Keith Albert Laws | 1976–1985 |
8 | Geoff Tait | 1986–1988 |
9 | Benjamin Rory Gollop | 1988–1998 [14] |
10 | Paul Baker | 1999–2011 [15] |
11 | Paul Jackson | 2012–2015 [16] |
12 | Clive Rennie | 2016 |
13 | Darryl Paterson | 2017–present |