, motto_translation = The Right Education Makes The Heart As Strong As Oak , type =

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

, grades = 9 - 13 , grades_label = Years , gender = Girls-only , established = ; years ago , address = 41 Tennyson Street , region =

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, city =

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

, zipcode = 9016 , country = New Zealand , coordinates = , principal = Linda Miller , song = The Chambered Nautilus , newspaper = Nautilus , houses = Allan
Benjamin
Cruikshank
Williams , roll = () , decile = 8P , MOE = 378 , homepage
otagogirls.school.nz
Otago Girls' High School (OGHS) is a secondary school in

, New Zealand. It was opened 6 February 1871, after a long campaign by

Learmonth Whyte Dalrymple Learmonth White Dalrymple (c.1827–26 August 1906) was a New Zealand educationalist who campaigned for girls' secondary education in Dunedin and for women to be admitted to the University of Otago. This was the first Australasian university to ...

. It is reputedly the oldest girls state-run secondary school in the Southern Hemisphere and the sixth oldest of its type in the world. The school has its own radio show on

Otago Access Radio The Community Access Media Alliance (CAMA) (formerly the Association of Community Access Broadcasters (ACAB)), also known as the Access Radio Network, is a group of twelve New Zealand community radio media organisations. The stations were establ ...

History

At its foundation the school occupied a neo-classical building on its present site which it shared with

Otago Boys' High School , motto_translation = "The ‘right’ learning builds a heart of oak" , type = State secondary, day and boarding , established = ; years ago , streetaddress= 2 Arthur Street , region = Dunedin , state = Otago , zipcod ...

. A new building on another site was built for the boys which they marched away to occupy in 1885. In 1910 the present main block was opened, designed by

Edmund Anscombe Edmund Anscombe (8 February 1874 – 9 October 1948) was one of the most important figures to shape the architectural and urban fabric of New Zealand. He was important, not only because of the prolific nature of his practice and the quality of ...

(1874–1948) and the old building on Tennyson Street was demolished. Anscombe's conception of a rouge-brick Elizabethan mansion, dreaming in the sun, was slowly extended. Temporary structures were replaced in the 1970s by

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

blocks, contextualised by the use of brick to the Anscombe building. In the 1980s the main block was scheduled for demolition. After protest it was restored and extended by a sympathetic addition designed by

Ted McCoy Edward John McCoy (23 February 1925 – 17 January 2018), generally known as Ted McCoy, was a New Zealand architect whose practice was based in Dunedin. He designed the sanctuary of St Paul's Cathedral (completed 1970), and the Richardson (form ...

, and in 1987 was listed as a Category I Historic Place. The school has since acquired part of the old King Edward Technical School site. It has erected structures there accessible by way of a pedestrian underpass beneath Smith Street. The school gained international attention in February 2022 after a Muslim student was beaten for wearing a

hijab In modern usage, hijab ( ar, حجاب, translit=ḥijāb, ) generally refers to headcoverings worn by Muslim women. Many Muslims believe it is obligatory for every female Muslim who has reached the age of puberty to wear a head covering. While ...

by her peers, and resulted in the student being hospitalised with a concussion. The incident led to an international and domestic outcry, with support for the student coming from

Bella Hadid Isabella Khairiah Hadid (born October 9, 1996) is an American model. In 2016, she was voted "Model of the Year" by industry professionals for Models.com. Over the span of four years, Hadid has made twenty-seven appearances on international '' ...

Sonny Bill Williams Sonny Bill Williams (born 3 August 1985) is a New Zealand heavyweight boxer, and a former professional rugby league and rugby union player and as of recently is working for Stan Sports. He is only the List of dual-code rugby internationals#New ...

, among others. Two of the students responsible for the attack were subsequently expelled while a third was referred to counselling. Principal Bridget Davidson confirmed that the school was working with the victims, Muslim community and Police to address the bullying and assault. Otago Muslim Association chairman Dr Mohammad Rizwan welcomed the outcome.

Notable alumnae

Mina Arndt Hermina "Mina" Arndt (18 April 1885 – 22 December 1926) was a New Zealand artist. Biography Arndt was born at Thurlby Domain, near Queenstown, New Zealand, Queenstown on 18 April 1885, the third daughter of Jewish parents Maria and Herman Arn ...

- artist *

Ethel Benjamin Ethel Rebecca Benjamin (19 January 1875 – 14 October 1943) was New Zealand's first female lawyer. On 17 September 1897, she became the first woman in the British Empire to appear as counsel in court, representing a client for the recovery of a ...

- New Zealand's first female lawyer
/sup> *

Kelly Brazier Kelly Brazier (born 28 October 1989) is a New Zealand rugby union and sevens player. She has played flyhalf, centre and fullback for the Black Ferns, New Zealand's women's national rugby team, and has competed at three Rugby World Cups in 201 ...

- rugby union player *

Kushana Bush Kushana Bush (born 1983) is a New Zealand artist based in Dunedin. She is best known for her paintings which typically blend historic and contemporary styles. Bush has won several awards for her works and has held international exhibitions. Wo ...

- artist *

Silvia Cartwright Dame Silvia Rose Cartwright (née Poulter; born 7 November 1943) is a New Zealand jurist who served as the 18th Governor-General of New Zealand, from 2001 to 2006. She was the second woman to hold the office, after Dame Catherine Tizard. Early ...

- former Governor General of New Zealand *

Ann Chapman Margaret Ann Chapman (14 January 1937 – 23 May 2009) was a limnologist, one of the first New Zealand women scientists to visit Antarctica, and the first woman to lead a scientific expedition to Antarctica. Lake Chapman, in Antarctica's R ...

- first woman to lead an Antarctic expedition *

Mai Chen Mai Chen is a New Zealand and Harvard educated lawyer with a professional and specialist focus in constitutional and administrative law, Waitangi tribunal and courts, human rights, white collar fraud and regulatory defence, judicial review, re ...

- constitutional lawyer *

Constance Clyde Constance Jane McAdam (1872-1951), best known under her literary pseudonym Constance Clyde, was a Scottish-born New Zealand writer and suffragette. She also published under the name Clyde Wright. Life Born in Glasgow to Mary (née Couper) and W ...

- writer *

Margaret Cruickshank Margaret Barnett Cruickshank (1 January 1873 – 28 November 1918) was a New Zealand medical practitioner who died during the 1918 influenza pandemic. She was the first registered female doctor in New Zealand. Posthumously, she was the first wo ...

- New Zealand's first female medical doctor * Elizabeth Gunn - paediatrician *

Alison Holst Dame Alison Margaret Holst (née Payne, born 1938) is a best-selling New Zealand food writer and television celebrity chef. Biography Holst was born in Dunedin, and graduated from the University of Otago, then a constituent college of the Univ ...

- cook *

Grace Joel Grace Jane Joel (28 May 1865–6 March 1924) was a New Zealand artist best known for her ability as a portraitist and figure painter. Early life Grace Joel was born in Dunedin, New Zealand on 28 May 1865, the sixth of nine children. Her Englis ...

- painter * Millie Lovelock - student journalist, singer-songwriter-guitarist *

Juliet Marillier Juliet Marillier (born 27 July 1948) is a New Zealand-born writer of fantasy, focusing predominantly on historical fantasy. Biography Juliet Marillier was educated at the University of Otago, where she graduated with a BA in languages and a ...

- author *

Shona McFarlane Shona Graham McFarlane (27 March 1929 – 29 September 2001) was a New Zealand artist, journalist and broadcaster. Biography McFarlane was born in Gore and educated at Otago Girls' High School, and studied teaching at the Dunedin Teachers' C ...

- artist, journalist and broadcaster *

Judith Medlicott Judith Olwyn Medlicott (née Sloan) is a New Zealand lawyer and former Chancellor of the University of Otago. Early life and education Medlicott was educated at Otago Girls' High School in Dunedin. She took up her law studies in 1972, after an ...

- family lawyer and former

University of Otago , image_name = University of Otago Registry Building2.jpg , image_size = , caption = University clock tower , motto = la, Sapere aude , mottoeng = Dare to be wise , established = 1869; 152 years ago , type = Public research collegiate u ...

Chancellor * Emily Hancock Siedeberg - New Zealand's first female medical graduate *

Patricia Payne (mezzo-soprano) Patricia Katherine Payne (born 8 March 1942) is an operatic mezzo-soprano and contralto from New Zealand. A member of London's Royal Opera House, she made an international career, performing leading roles of both Wagner and Italian repertory at ...

- opera singer *

Raylene Ramsay Raylene Lammas Ramsay (born 1945) is a professor emerita of French culture, in New Zealand. She has published on avant-garde French novelists, French women politicians, and has translated Kanak poems and published a cultural history of New Caled ...

- French culture researcher *

Olga Stringfellow Olga Stringfellow (4 June 1923 – 1995) was a New Zealand journalist and author of romantic and historical fiction. History Stringfellow was born in Dunedin as Olga Elsa Brown on 4 June 1923. She was educated at the Otago Girls' High School i ...

- writer * Nancy Tichborne - watercolour artist *

Yvette Williams Dame Yvette Winifred Corlett (née Williams; 25 April 1929 – 13 April 2019) was a New Zealand track-and-field athlete who was the first woman from her country to win an Olympic gold medal and to hold the world record in the women's long jum ...

- first New Zealand woman to win an Olympic gold medal

Notable faculty

Katherine Browning Katherine Browning (28 February 1864 – 13 April 1946) was a New Zealand teacher, who published one of the only four papers by women in the Royal Society of New Zealand's '' Transactions'' before 1900. Early life and education Browning was b ...

* Jessie Buckland *

Clare Mallory Clare Mallory is the pen name under which Winifred Constance McQuilkan Hall (25 September 1913 – 20 April 1991) wrote ten children's books published between 1947 and 1951. Clare Mallory is primarily remembered as a superior exponent of the gir ...

* Maria Marchant

References

External links

Official Website

Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on Learmonth White Dalrymple
{{Authority control Heritage New Zealand Category 1 historic places in Otago Girls' schools in New Zealand Educational institutions established in 1871 Secondary schools in Dunedin Edmund Anscombe buildings 1871 establishments in New Zealand Association of Community Access Broadcasters 1910s architecture in New Zealand Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia Central Dunedin