In 1973 the

Ōkaihau Ōkaihau is a small town in the Northland Region of New Zealand's North Island, just north of Kaikohe. State Highway 1 passes through Ōkaihau making it fairly busy. Ōkaihau has a primary school (Ōkaihau Primary School) and a secondary scho ...

district high school in the

Far North District The Far North District is the northernmost territorial authority district of New Zealand, consisting of the northern part of the Northland Peninsula in the North Island. It stretches from North Cape and Cape Reinga / Te Rerenga Wairua in the ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

was granted Form 1-7 (Year 7-13) status and became Okaihau College with Mr. Laurenson as first principal. At the same time a full primary school was completed around the Infant Block with Mr. N. Thomson becoming the first headmaster. At the end of 1973 there were 263 pupils attending the college and 219 at the primary school. Since then, the school has grown to the larger roll of 427 pupils. The decile rating is 2. Students are predominantly of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

(67%), and

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

(28%) descent. The name "Ōkaihau" is a Māori name which means "Feast of the winds", which is relevant to the location of the area on a ridge over 200 m above sea level. This part of

was originally a dense tree landscape, and even today large old trees such as the

puriri ''Vitex lucens'', or pūriri, is an evergreen tree endemic to New Zealand. History Pūriri was first collected (by Europeans) at Tolaga Bay by Banks and Solander during Cook's first visit in 1769. The plant was excellently described by Soland ...

are found in the area of the school. The puriri leaves and berries make up the college logo, and the schools motto is "Harmony, Truth and Effort". Staffing includes approximately 35 teachers and 25 support staff. The curriculum includes all the traditional subject areas up to NCEA Level 3 with an emphasis on performing arts and education out of the classroom. Over 90% of students travel to school by bus, coming from an area bounded by

Mangamuka Bridge Mangamuka is a district in Northland, New Zealand, at the junction of the Mangamuka and Opurehu Rivers. State Highway 1 runs through the area, and the settlement of Mangamuka Bridge lies at the point where the highway crosses the Mangamuku River ...

, Motukiore,

Ōhaeawai Ōhaeawai is a small village at the junction of State Highway 1 and State Highway 12 in the Far North District of New Zealand, some from Auckland. The town of Kaikohe is to the west, and the Bay of Islands is a short drive to the east. The N ...

and

Waimate North Waimate North is a small settlement in Northland, New Zealand. It is situated between Kerikeri and Lake Ōmāpere, west of the Bay of Islands. It was one of the earliest centres of European settlement and features the second-oldest surviving E ...

. Okaihau College currently has four houses which are named after four native trees of New Zealand. These houses are: *Kauri *Rimu *Totara *Puriri Each house competes for the inter-house championship each year. Each house is led by two senior captains who actively lead their house in events, including the annual swimming sports and athletics.

References

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External links

Official Website
Secondary schools in the Northland Region