Napier Girls' High School is a state secondary school on Clyde Road,

Napier, New Zealand Napier ( ; mi, Ahuriri) is a city on the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Hawke's Bay Region, Hawke's Bay region. It is a beachside city with a Napier Port, seaport, known for its sunny climate, esplanade lin ...

. It is one of the oldest schools in New Zealand for girls, and has a current school roll of about 1000.

History

In 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. Miss 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. Thirty-nine pupils were on the books that first day, and one boarder was enrolled. 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 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Si ...

, and had to be demolished. The main building of the present school, named Spencer Building after Miss A.E.J. Spencer, the school's third principal, stands in what was the original playing area of the first school. The entrance to the school hall features a large mural painting by renowned New Zealand artist,

Rita Angus Rita Angus (12 March 1908 – 25 January 1970), a New Zealand painter, has a reputation - along with Colin McCahon and Toss Woollaston - as one of the leading figures in twentieth-century New Zealand art. She worked primarily in oil and water ...

. 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

* Mandy Boyd (1991-), lawn bowls player * Amy Hutchinson (1874 – 1971), school hostel matron, spinner and weaver, community leader. * Aliesha Staples, digital technology entrepreneur *

Jacquie Sturm Jacqueline Cecilia Sturm (born Te Kare Papuni, also known as Jacquie Baxter; 17 May 1927 – 30 December 2009) was a New Zealand poet, short story writer and librarian. She was one of the first Māori women to complete an undergraduate universi ...

(1927–2009), poet and writer of short stories *

Emma Twigg Emma Kimberley Twigg (born 1 March 1987) is a New Zealand rower. A single sculler, she was the 2014 world champion and won gold in her fourth Olympics in Tokyo in July 2021. Previous Olympic appearances were in 2008 (ninth place), 2012 (fourth ...

(1987-), rower

Notable faculty

* Katherine Browning, (1864–1946), former mathematics teacher and notable published scientist * June Clifford CNZM, (retired 2008), former Head of Music and chair of Chamber Music New Zealand

References

External links

Napier Girls' High School
{{Authority control Boarding schools in New Zealand Girls' schools in New Zealand Educational institutions established in 1884 Secondary schools in the Hawke's Bay Region Schools in Napier, New Zealand 1884 establishments in New Zealand Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia