St Peter's School is a

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co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

for Years 7–13 in

Cambridge, New Zealand Cambridge () is a town in the Waipā District of the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. Situated southeast of Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, on the banks of the Waikato River, Cambridge is known as "The Town of Trees & Champi ...

. The school is located on of ground, surrounded by school-owned farmland alongside the

Waikato River The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand, running for through the North Island. It rises on the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu, joining the Tongariro River system and flowing through Lake Taupō, New Zealand's largest lake. It th ...

. The schools motto, 'Structa Saxo', is Latin and translates to "Built on a Rock". STP main reception 2014

The school has facilities for boarding- and day-students, as well as on-campus accommodation for teachers, tutors and workers.

History

The school was founded in 1936 by Arthur Broadhurst (1890–1986) and James Morris Beaufort (1896–1952). It was designed by American architect Roy Alston Lippincott, who designed the main building to resemble a large English country home. St Peter's became a co-educational school in 1987. The Robb Sports Centre was constructed in 2005. The building includes two indoor basketball or badminton courts, netball courts, tiered seating for up to 200 people, a weights room, an aerobics studio, two squash courts and an artificial climbing wall. In 2009 construction of a new English block was completed, along with a new library and computer rooms. The board of the school approved the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

programme to be taught alongside the current NCEA curriculum at Year 12 and 13, effective 2009. It is the only school in the Waikato to offer the IB Diploma. A new Junior School area (Year 7–8 students) was completed in June 2014. Also in 2014 Owl Farm was launched, a demonstration farm that is a joint venture between St Peter's School, Cambridge and Lincoln University. Students use the farm regularly for a wide variety of applications including animal feeding, breeding and health, pasture composition, growth rates and dry matter percentage, weed identification, and more. Also in 2014, the Business and Entrepreneurial Centre (BEC) was opened. It is an initiative that helps students understand the importance of business, and to develop enterprising attributes and skills. For those students who have a keen interest in business, the BEC provides an environment where they can get practical support to get their ideas off the ground. The Avantidrome, a

velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...

, was built on the school's grounds in 2014. It was officially opened by the

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and

Duchess Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they a ...

of Cambridge. In 2018 it reached a record roll of over 1130 students. Junior Sports Academies (Rugby, Football, Netball and Cricket) were introduced in 2017 as curriculum-based options in Years 7–10. School teams for these sports are offered at all age groups as co-curricular opportunities for all students, regardless of whether they choose to enrol in a curriculum academy or not. St Peter's has other sports academies including Equestrian, Rowing, Swimming, Golf, Rugby, and Cycling. In 2018 the school implemented the Well-being Curriculum and Pastoral Care structure. The Well-being Curriculum is at the leading edge of educational circles and provides benefits to all students and staff. The school has plans to open a purpose-built Well-being Centre in 2019–2020. As part of this, learning (tutor) groups were introduced. They are single gender in Year 9 and 10 and mixed gender in Years 11, 12 and 13. The Musical Theatre Academy was also launched in 2018. It provides student with intensive vocational training outside of academic class time. The programme is influenced by research that was conducted on top performing arts schools around the world. New Zealand musical theatre directo
David Sidwell
is the Academy Advisor. In 2022, a new Food Tech block was opened. It has modern facilities. In 2024, they renovated the Junior School and renamed it to “The College” which is an area for Year 13 students to study and go to class instead of the usual areas of school. They also moved the Junior students to the Business Entrepreneurial Centre (BEC).

Historic sexual abuse

In November 2021, the school's chair announced that police were investigating historical cases of sexual abuse. The school announced that nineteen boys suffered sexual, physical or emotional abuse between 1936 and 1981, in cases involving eight staff. The police investigation began in 2019 and followed an internal investigation which had started in 2018. As of 25 November, police would not say whether charges would be laid. The

Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions was established by the New Zealand Government in 2018 to inquire into and report upon allegations of historical abuse to children, y ...

, a government-run inquiry that was established in 2018, had already heard from many former students of the school about abuse there.The chair of the school's board, John Macaskill-Smith, apologised to former students and said school trustees had a commitment towards "putting things right". He said that of the eight implicated staff, most are very old or dead, while the whereabouts of others is unknown. He noted that "a couple

f these staff members F, or f, is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet and many modern alphabets influenced by it, including the modern English alphabet and the alphabets of all other modern western European languages. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounce ...

have been prosecuted for abuse while operating as teachers".

Enrolment

As a private school, St Peter's School charges tuition fees to cover costs. For the 2025 school year, tuition fees for New Zealand residents are $23,700 per year for students in years 7 and 8, $27,120 per year for students in years 9 and 10, and $29,395 per year for students in years 11 and above. Boarding fees for all students are $19,640 per year. As of , St Peter's School has roll of students, of which (%) identify as Māori. As a private school, the school is not assigned 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 ...

Notable alumni

George Makgill Sir George Makgill, 11th Baronet, ''de jure'' 11th Viscount of Oxfuird (24 December 1868 – 16 October 1926) was a Scottish peer, novelist and right-wing propagandist. Biography George Makgill was born in Stirling, the son of Captain Sir John ...

(1934 – 2003) – Deputy Speaker, House of Lords * Sir Vaughan Jones (1952 – 2020) – Mathematician * Keith Lowen (born 1974) – All Black *

Chris Watson John Christian Watson (born Johan Cristian Tanck; 9 April 186718 November 1941) was an Australian politician who served as the third prime minister of Australia from April to August 1904. He held office as the inaugural federal leader of the Au ...

(born 1976) – composer and film-maker * Stuart Farquhar (born 1982) – Javelin thrower *

Anna Mowbray Anna Jane Mowbray (born July 1983) is a New Zealand entrepreneur and businesswoman. Together with her brothers Mat and Nick, she leads the Chinese toy manufacturer ZURU; her role is chief operating officer. Using her contacts in China, she orga ...

(born 1983/1984) – Entrepreneur *

Nick Mowbray Nicholas James Mowbray (born March 1985) is a New Zealand entrepreneur and businessman. Together with his brother Mat, he is the co-founder of toy and consumer products manufacturer Zuru. Early life Mowbray grew up in Cambridge, New Zealand, a ...

(born 1985) – Entrepreneur *

Rushlee Buchanan Rushlee Buchanan (born 20 January 1988) is a New Zealand track and road cyclist. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Women's madison, and Women's team pursuit. Career She won bronze at the 2010 UCI Track Cycling World Championshi ...

(born 1988) – Track and road cyclist * Georgia Perry (born 1993) – Rower * Matthew Dunham (born 1994) – Rower * Tim Seifert (born 1994) – Cricketer * Sam Perry (born 1995) – Swimmer *

Samipeni Finau Samipeni Finau (born 10 May 1999 in Tonga) is a Tongan born New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a Lock or Flanker for the Chiefs in Super Rugby and Waikato in the Bunnings NPC. International career Finau made his senior test debut ...

(born 1999) – All Black *

Ellesse Andrews Ellesse Mote Andrews (born 31 December 1999) is a New Zealand racing cyclist. She represented New Zealand at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the 2020 Summer Olympics, where she gained a silver medal in the keirin. At the 2024 Summer Olympics, ...

(born 1999) – Track cyclist *

Ollie Norris Ollie Norris (born 11 December 1999) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays for the in Super Rugby. His playing position is prop. He has signed for the Chiefs. Personal life Norris is a New Zealander of Māori descent (Ngāpuhi N ...

(born 1999) – Rugby player * Cameron Roigard (born 2000) – All Black *

Ally Wollaston Ally Wollaston (born 4 January 2001) is a New Zealand professional track Cycle sport, racing cyclist and road cyclist riding for . She was a double-medallist at the Cycling at the 2024 Summer Olympics, 2024 Paris Olympics and is the first New Zea ...

(born 2001) – Track and road cyclist

References

External links