Rangi Ruru Girls' School is a New Zealand

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girls' day and boarding secondary school located in Merivale, an inner suburb of

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

. The school is affiliated to the

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, and serves approximately girls from Years 7 to 13 (ages 10 to 18).

History

The school was founded in 1889 when Frederick Gibson bought a school run in Papanui by friends of his, Ada, Kate and Jessie Gresham, who were moving to Australia. The school had 18 students, aged 5 to 16 years old. Initially Gibson's daughters Alice and

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and their mother Mary ran the school, calling it "Miss Gibson's Private School for Girls". In 1891 the school moved to a building in Webb Street and was renamed ''Rangi Ruru'', meaning "wide sky-shelter". This name had been suggested by a

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chief of Rapaki Pa, Pāora Taki, a friend of Frederick Gibson. Helen Gibson continued as Principal and her sisters Alice, Ethel, Ruth and Winifred joined as teachers. The school prospered under Helen Gibson's leadership, and grew to over 200 students at the time of her death in 1938. From 1938 until the sale of the school in 1946, Ethel Gibson was principal; her sisters continued to assist and support her. The school moved to its present site in 1923, as the Webb Street building was becoming too small. Te Koraha, the original house on the site, had been the home of the

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family; it was made available to the

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and Duchess of Cornwall and York for their June 1901 royal visit to Christchurch. The Rangi Ruru Board of Governors was established in 1946 when

Church members purchased the school from the Gibson family. While the Christchurch Presbytery approves appointments, the board is autonomous. In the early 1980s the school wanted to have an on-site chapel, while simultaneously the congregation of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church at Hospital Corner was declining. It was decided to relocate the church to the school site, and in 1986 the building was moved to land adjacent to the school on Merivale Lane. The church became known as "St Andrew's at Rangi Ruru".

Academic achievement

Rangi Ruru is consistently one of New Zealand's highest-achieving schools in academic achievement. In 2013, 100 percent of girls leaving Rangi Ruru held at least NCEA Level 1, 98.2 percent held at least NCEA Level 2, and 92.0 percent held at least University Entrance. This is compared to 86.8%, 77.2%, and 55.4% respectively for girls nationally.

Notable alumnae

Sophie Devine Sophie Frances Monique Devine (born 1 September 1989) is a New Zealand sportswoman, who has represented New Zealand in both cricket for the New Zealand national women's cricket team (''White Ferns''), and in field hockey as a member of the New ...

(born 1989), cricket and hockey player *

Elizabeth Edgar Elizabeth Edgar (27 December 1929 – 1 January 2019) was a New Zealand botanist, best known for her work in authoring and editing three of the five volumes of the series ''Flora of New Zealand'', which describes and classifies the species of ...

(born 1929), botanist *

Sophia Fenwick Sophia Fenwick (born 12 December 1992) is a New Zealand netball player. Fenwick was a member of the New Zealand Secondary Schools and New Zealand U21 teams in 2010. She was also drafted as a Temporary Replacement Player for the Canterbury Tact ...

(born 1992), netball player *

Kenneth Gresson Sir Kenneth Macfarlane Gresson (18 July 1891 – 7 October 1974) was a New Zealand soldier, lawyer, university lecturer and judge. He was born on 18 July 1891 and attended Rangi Ruru. His father, John Beatty Gresson, was a solicitor in Christ ...

(1891–1974), soldier, lawyer, university lecturer and judge (attended before Rangi Ruru became a girls' school) * Eve MacFarlane (born 1992), rower *

Elizabeth Manu Elizabeth "Bessie" Manu (born 16 September 1986 in Wellington, New Zealand) is a New Zealand netball player in the ANZ Championship, playing for the Central Pulse. Manu previously played with the Canterbury Tactix in 2008, after having been a m ...

(born 1986), netball player *

Annabel Ritchie Annabel Ritchie (born 20 July 1978) is a retired rower from New Zealand. Private life Ritchie was born in New Zealand and attended Rangi Ruru Girls' School in Christchurch from 1994 to 1996. She studied at Victoria University of Wellington and ...

(born 1978), lawyer and rower *

Francie Turner Frances "Francie" Turner (born 6 April 1992) is a New Zealand coxswain. She competed at the Rio Olympics with the New Zealand women's eight. Private life Turner was born in Christchurch in 1992 and grew up on a dairy farm near Southbridge in C ...

(born 1992), rowing cox * Polly 'PJ' Harding (born 1990), radio host

References

External links

1968 photo of St Andrew's Church
i.e. prior to its relocation {{Authority control Educational institutions established in 1889 Girls' schools in New Zealand Intermediate schools in New Zealand Secondary schools in Christchurch Boarding schools in New Zealand 1889 establishments in New Zealand Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia