Waihi College is a co-educational

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

located in the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

town of Waihi in

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 ...

. The school motto reads in Latin 'Lex Nostra Fides' translated into English as 'Our Faith Is The Law'. It was established as a District High School in 1932. It then became a Forms 3–7 College in 1954. It moved to its current site in 1959. In 1976 it extended its roll to cover forms 1 and 2. Forms 1–7 are now known as years 7–13. Today Waihi College houses nearly 750 students during a school Calendar.

History

Teaching at secondary level in Waihi commenced in 1901 when Waihi School became Waihi District High School. This was on the site where the South School now is and it burned down in 1931. The rebuilt school was opened as Waihi Intermediate with a secondary department attached. The principal was Mr F R Slevin, a former Waihi student. Mr D E Swinton became principal in 1947 and, in 1953, after strong representation to the Minister of Education, Waihi College was established as a full secondary school, with an intermediate department attached. The Waihi College Board of Governors was established in 1957 and in 1958 work commenced on the site where the present college is situated. Staff and pupils moved to the new buildings in September 1959 and the college was officially opened on 11 March 1960 by the then Prime Minister, Walter Nash. The intermediate school remained at Moresby Avenue and sixteen years later Forms 1 and 2 students returned to the college roll.

Crest and Motto

The motto enshrined into the emblem reads in Latin 'Lex Nostra Fides' meaning Our Faith Is The Law. The motto suggests an implicit ethos expected of students to strive for greatness whilst respecting duties carried under the eternal, the natural, the human and the divine law. Regardless of a students background, creed, person attribute or social status, every student can achieve civic character by understanding what the motto speaks of and the truth in its message.

Houses

The house system of Waihi College places students into one of four houses. This system is used for events such as Spirit Days and Athletic.

Academics

The school teaches National Certificate of Educational Achievement accredited papers, including but not limited to

classical studies Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

English studies English studies (usually called simply English) is an academic discipline taught in primary, secondary, and post-secondary education in English-speaking countries; it is not to be confused with English taught as a foreign language, which ...

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

Māori language Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...

food technology Food technology is a branch of food science that deals with the production, preservation, quality control and research and development of the food products. Early scientific research into food technology concentrated on food preservation. Nic ...

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

and

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

Sports

The school prides itself on two main sports;

Rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

and

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

. The school has a rich rivalry with

Katikati College Katikati College is a co-educational Year 7 to 13 school. It is located in the town of Katikati which is approximately northwest of the city of Tauranga in the Western Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand. Principals * 1935: Mr S. M. Kemp * 19 ...

. The two schools have an annual exchange, including Rugby union, netball and

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

. Katikati College is located about 25 km from Waihi College, so students take buses for transport. There are outdoor Cricket nets, with 3 artificial turfs available on the top field.

References

External links

* Educational institutions established in 1932 Secondary schools in Waikato 1932 establishments in New Zealand {{NewZealand-school-stub