Ngaruawahia High School (often abbreviated ''NHS'') is a state co-educational school situated in

Ngāruawāhia Ngāruawāhia () is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located north-west of Hamilton at the confluence of the Waikato and Waipā Rivers, adjacent to the Hakarimata Range. Ngāruawāhia is in the Hamilton U ...

, New Zealand. The school was opened in 1963 and the current principal is Rebecca Hodgson. Mr. Chris Jarnet retired at the end of 2022. The school typically hosts a Year 9–13 roll which fluctuates between 150 and 250 students each year and also provides learning opportunities to adult students.

Academic

The school offers NCEA courses to senior students and allows some students to study certain subjects by enrolling with

The Correspondence School Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu or Te Kura (formerly The Correspondence School) is New Zealand's largest school with around 25,000 students enrolled each year, from early childhood to secondary level. It is headquartered in Portland Crescent in Thorndon ...

. The school is also affiliated with foreign student exchange programs. Ngaruawahia High School has signed up to the Te Kotahitanga programme, intended to improve the academic performance of Maori students.

Sports

The New Zealand football club

Ngaruawahia United Ngaruawahia United AFC is an association football club based in Ngāruawāhia, New Zealand. They compete in the NRFL Division 2, following promotion from the WaiBOP Premiership in 2021. Ngaruawahia United AFC play their home matches at Centennia ...

was formed in 1968 and is made up primarily of the teenagers attending the secondary school.

Ngaruawahia regatta

The school embraces the local regatta, a traditional perseverance of New Zealand's history and

Māori culture Māori culture () is the customs, cultural practices, and beliefs of the indigenous Māori people of New Zealand. It originated from, and is still part of, Eastern Polynesian culture. Māori culture forms a distinctive part of New Zealand cu ...

. An event is held every year in March on the

Waikato River The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand, running for through the North Island. It rises on the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu, joining the Tongariro River system and flowing through Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake. It th ...

Controversies

In March 2010, a 14-year-old student at the school, Bronwyn Ormbsy-Ward, was assaulted by at least three girls. The attack happened outside school grounds, and video footage was wildly circulated. After viewing the footage, Bronwyn's mother laid a complaint with police. In August 2011, a 17-year-old and her friend were refused use of school toilets at interval, after finding all other toilets in the school locked. They were also denied use of staff room toilets. Upon returning to the staff room to 'beg' to use the toilets, they were told "there's a bush out there." Principal Robyn Roa, who introduced the strict policy, later apologised. The girl's mother, who is writing a complaint to the school's board, said that an apology was not enough, calling the staff 'immature' and 'pathetic'.

Recent history

* In 2011, mainly in response to the attack of former student Bronwyn Ormbsy-Ward, of which a video was widely circulated, principal Robyn Roa introduced a ban on all electronic devices, which includes

cellphones A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while ...

and

iPods The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...

. She also said the prevalence of violence among young girls was a worrying trend and was unsure whether it was because they were prone to gossip or whether it was a cultural shift. * In 2014, it was reported that the school would replace traditional classrooms with a modern approach to education in an attempt to "restore the school's once glowing reputation".

Notable staff

* John Moorfield – Māori language academic

Notable alumni

Shaun Kenny-Dowall Shaun Kenny-Dowall (born 23 January 1988) is a New Zealand international rugby league footballer who plays as a and er for Hull Kingston Rovers in the Super League. He is the current club captain. He previously played for the Sydney Rooste ...

–

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won fifteen Ne ...

and

New Zealand national rugby league team The New Zealand national rugby league team ( Māori: Tīma rīki motu Aotearoa) has represented New Zealand in rugby league since 1907. Administered by the New Zealand Rugby League, they are commonly known as the Kiwis, after the native bird of ...

* Jacinda MacDonald – Royal NZ Army Medical Corps, member of the

New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

References

External links

The School's Official WebsiteNgaruawahia Soccer Club
{{Schools in Waikato Educational institutions established in 1963 Secondary schools in Waikato 1963 establishments in New Zealand Ngāruawāhia