School

School Background: 

Napier Boys’ High School is a single sex school catering for young men from Year 9 to Year 13, with a current roll of 1170. The school has a substantial boarding hostel - Scinde House (190 boarders). The school was established on the Napier Hill in 1872 and moved to its current site in 1926 in order that the students enjoy more spacious surroundings.

The school site, now owned by the Board of Trustees, measures 14.68 ha with an adjacent farm block of 13 ha. The palms planted after the 1931 earthquake, punctuate the school’s landscape and create a unique setting for the large fields and facilities. 

     

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Following the fire in October 1991, the school has been significantly upgraded and the modern learning environment is enhanced with a unique Art-Deco style architecture.

Napier Boys’ High School is a well-established school promoting traditional values and enhances these by adapting to changing needs and circumstances.  It is a modern secondary school with a rich past that caters for the all-round educational needs of young men from a diverse range of contributing schools.

The staff (approximately 70) have a serious commitment to academic excellence in formal teaching and learning, as well as to extra-curricular activities. Their input in the areas of sport, drama, outdoor education, music and art are strengths of the school. The school enjoys the services of a dedicated and capable administration, ancillary and grounds staff.



A comprehensive range of academic and vocational subjects are offered at all year levels to satisfy the career expectations of all students. The school also offers experience in a range of national and international assessments and academic competitions.

The school farm (13 ha) adjacent to the school provides a learning environment for a range of educational activities. Horticulture, Forestry, Agriculture and Farm Technology are natural extensions of this facility, and in 2009 the first grapes from the school’s ‘Nui’ vineyard will be harvested.

The school is an active member of the New Zealand Super Eight Schools which links prominent North Island boys’ state secondary schools, expanding opportunities to include contact for sporting and cultural events and staff professional development.  The school has a long held, prominent national profile in academic and sporting success.

  

The school also owns an Outdoor Education Centre ‘Camp Simmons’ at Pakaututu on the upper reaches of the Mohaka River, which is used in the summer months as an outdoor base for classes involved in Outdoor Education.

The Hawkes Bay Holt Planetarium is sited on the school grounds and

provides an additional unique learning facility for the school’s students as well as students from other schools, visitors and the greater community.

Napier Boys’ High School has grown by approximately 40% in the last six years and has recently completed an extensive building programme ($3.5m) that has resulted in 22 classrooms being built or thoroughly refurbished. The school is now in a new phase of development which will further enhance the teaching facilities of the school, including an Art /design suit, social science centre and entrance way.

The school’s most recent Education Review Office report (2007) includes:

  • The school has a positive, purposeful tone. 
  • Students learn in a well-structured and formal learning environment with clear guidelines and expectations for behaviour, effort and personal responsibility
  • Students’ achievement in national qualifications are well above both the mean nationally, and for comparable decile 5 schools, at all levels of NCEA.
  • Strong pastoral care and guidance systems provide valued support to students. 
  • A wide range of leadership opportunities is provided within academic, sporting and cultural activities. 
  • Many students also achieve successfully in a wide range of regional and national academic, sporting and cultural competitions.  Students’ successes and achievements are recognised, rewarded and shared through assemblies, newsletters and school magazine. 
  • Senior managers, effectively led by the Headmaster, provide high quality management through their complementary skills and experiences.  They support teachers, model innovation and maintain a strong focus on developing strategies and resources for improving student learning and achievement

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