Napier Girls' High School is a state secondary school on Clyde Road,

Napier, New Zealand Napier ( ; ) is a city on the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Hawke's Bay region. It is a beachside city with a seaport, known for its sunny climate, esplanade lined with Norfolk pines, and extensive Art D ...

. It is one of the oldest schools in New Zealand for girls, and has a current school roll of about 1000.

History

In July 1883 plans were submitted to the board of governors for a school for girls in Napier, and the following month the board advertised for a lady principal who would be required to teach English, Latin, French and mathematics and take charge of the boarding establishment. Mary Hewett was appointed, and the school opened on 29 January 1884. The original school course included English, French, Latin, German, drawing, singing and calisthenics. 39 pupils were on the books that first day, and one boarder was enrolled. The original school building had classrooms on the ground floor, and rooms for the boarders upstairs. It stood where the main hostel building, Hewett House, now stands. It was badly damaged in the

1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake The 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, also known as the Napier earthquake, occurred in New Zealand at 10:47am on 3 February, killing 256,The exact number of deaths varies according to different sources; the ''New Zealand Listener'' article cited be ...

, and had to be demolished. The main building of the present school, named Spencer Building after A.E.J. Spencer, the school's third principal, stands in what was the original playing area of the first school. After bad damage, Napier Technical College was disestablished by the minister of education and was almalgamated into Napier Girls' High School and Napier Boys' High School. The entrance to the school hall features a large mural painting by renowned New Zealand artist,

Rita Angus Henrietta Catherine Angus (12 March 1908 – 25 January 1970), known as Rita Cook early in her career, was a New Zealand painter who, alongside Colin McCahon and Toss Woollaston, is regarded as one of the leading figures in twentieth-century Ne ...

. Hewett House provides boarding accommodation for 160 boarders adjacent to the school, including five day and seven day stay. The girls are housed in double cubicles or dormitories, and some have single rooms. Matthews House accommodation opened in 1988, and contains single cubicles for senior girls.

Enrolment

As of , Napier Girls' High School has a roll of students, of which (%) identify as Māori. As of , Napier Girls' High School has an

Equity Index In finance, a stock index, or stock market index, is an index that measures the performance of a stock market, or of a subset of a stock market. It helps investors compare current stock price levels with past prices to calculate market perform ...

of , placing it amongst schools whose students have socioeconomic barriers to achievement (roughly equivalent to deciles 6 and 7 under the former

socio-economic decile In the education in New Zealand, New Zealand education system, decile was a key measure of socioeconomic status used to target funding and support schools. In academic contexts the full term "socioeconomic decile" or "socioeconomic decile band" wa ...

system).

Notable alumnae

* Mandy Boyd (1991–), lawn bowls player *

Helen Margaret Druce Helen Margaret Druce née Hodgson (July 21, 1921–2010) was a New Zealand teacher, tramper, botanist and botanical collector. Life Druce was educated at Napier Girls' High School and Iona Presbyterian School for Girls. She earned a master ...

(1921–2010), teacher, tramper and botanist * Amy Hutchinson (1874–1971), school hostel matron, spinner and weaver, community leader. * Aliesha Staples, digital technology entrepreneur *

Jacquie Sturm Jacqueline Cecilia Sturm (born Te Kare Papuni, also known as Jacquie Baxter; 17 May 1927 – 30 December 2009) was a New Zealand poet, short story writer and librarian. She was one of the first Māori women to complete an undergraduate univers ...

(1927–2009), poet and writer of short stories *

Emma Twigg Emma Kimberley Twigg (born 1 March 1987) is a New Zealand Rowing (sport), rower. A single sculler, she was the 2014 world champion and won gold in her Rowing at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's single sculls, fourth Olympics in Tokyo in Jul ...

(1987–), rower

Notable faculty

* Katherine Browning (1864–1946), former mathematics teacher and notable published scientist * June Clifford (retired 2008), former head of music and chair of Chamber Music New Zealand

References

External links

Napier Girls' High School
{{Authority control Boarding schools in New Zealand Girls' schools in New Zealand Educational institutions established in 1884 Secondary schools in Hawke's Bay Schools in Napier, New Zealand 1884 establishments in New Zealand Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia