Riccarton High School is a state co-educational secondary school located in

Upper Riccarton Upper Riccarton is a suburb of Christchurch. It is due west of Riccarton. Upper Riccarton is made up of residential, retail and education areas. It includes a major intersection known as "Church Corner" (the intersection of Riccarton, Main Sout ...

, a suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. With a roll of students, it is one of the five largest secondary schools in Christchurch.

History

The Government purchased the site for the school in September 1954. The site had previously been proposed for a textile mill, but was sold after the owner abandoned its proposal. In January 1956, the Christchurch Post-primary Schools' Council agreed to establish a high school in western Christchurch. The council originally decided to develop Burnside High School first; the Riccarton site was disfavoured due to proximity to an industrial area, the Wigram Aerodrome and main arterial roads. A deputation of eight primary schools, Wharenui, Ilam, Riccarton, Sockburn, Hornby, Yaldhurst, Templeton and West Melton, urged the council to reconsider its decision and develop the Riccarton site first. On 1 May 1956, the council agreed to develop Riccarton High School ahead of Burnside High School. The school opened on 4 February 1958 with an initial roll of 140 students. The school's roll increased over time, reaching its height in 1974 when it had some 1,149 pupils on its books. With the opening of

Hornby High School Hornby High School is a state coeducational secondary school located in the western Christchurch, New Zealand suburb of Hornby Hornby may refer to: Places In England * Hornby, Lancashire * Hornby, Hambleton, village in North Yorkshire * Hornb ...

in 1976, Riccarton's roll began to drop. The lowest roll since 1974 was in 1986 when the school had dropped to just 612 pupils. Since then, the school has increased its numbers, stabilising at about 950 pupils a year.

Academics

As a state school, Riccarton High School follows the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC). In Years 11 to 13, students complete the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA), the main secondary school qualification in New Zealand.

Sport, music and culture

Each year the school engages in a Winter and Summer sports exchange with

Kaikorai Valley College Kaikorai Valley College is a large co-educational secondary school in Dunedin, New Zealand. Initially starting as Kaikorai Valley High School in 1958, the school combined with Kenmure Intermediate School in 1996 to become Kaikorai Valley College, ...

from Dunedin, with the most successful school taking home the respective shield. Some 40 clubs, sports, music and cultural groups are currently on offer. Riccarton High School has two sister schools in Japan. They are Takefu Higashi High School senior school in the Fukui Prefecture and Sakai Machi in Gunma Prefecture.

Facilities

Riccarton High School is primarily constructed in the late-1950s "Nelson Single Storey" design, characterised by single-storey classroom blocks with six classrooms arranged in an H shape and toilet and cloakrooms on one side. Riccarton has three of these blocks: B, S and T blocks. The school also has two 1960s "Nelson 2H" blocks, E/F and G/H, which are two-storey versions of the Nelson Single Storey blocks. In 2004 the school entered into a "partnership" with the Christchurch City Council to build a large school/community joint-use library and cafe at the school.

References

External links

Riccarton High School's
official website
Education Review Office (ERO) report for 2018

New Zealand Educated - Riccarton High School

NZQA Provider Details - Riccarton High School
Educational institutions established in 1958 Secondary schools in Christchurch 1958 establishments in New Zealand {{NewZealand-school-stub