Palmerston North Boys' High School


Palmerston North Boys' High School is a traditional boys school located in Palmerston North, New Zealand.

Location

Palmerston North Boys' High School has a campus located on Featherston Street between Rangitikei and North Streets in the central city. There are secondary entrances to the school on Wellesbourne Street, Ivanhoe Terrace, Edgeware Road and North Street. The rear boundary is shared with Queen Elizabeth College.

Students and school culture

Most of the school's approximately 1,700 students are "day boys" from Palmerston North and surrounding townships such as Ashhurst, Levin, and Feilding. Around 170 boys are housed in an onsite boarding hostel – College House.
The school's mission statement is to "develop educated men of outstanding character".

History and controversy

In 1902, Palmerston North High School was established as a co-educational secondary school with an initial roll of 84 students. The first classes were held at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church Sunday School hall. In 1920, Palmerston North High School was split into two single-sex schools: Palmerston North Girls' High School and Palmerston North Boys' High School.
In a 1990 case, M & R v Syms and the Board of Trustees of Palmerston North Boys High School NZAR 705, the plaintiffs challenged the steps taken by the Rector in suspending both students for consumption of alcohol, and later by the Board expelling M. McGechan J gave judgment for the plaintiffs holding that the Rector's discretion as to whether to suspend the pupils "is not to be ignored, as if non-existent. Nor is it to be fettered by a Principal through self imposed rules permitting no exceptions". The Judge further found that the Board did not exercise its mind on the ultimate discretion whether or not to uplift suspension or procure removal.
In September 2006 the school had an outbreak of tuberculosis in which a substantial number of students contracted a latent form of tuberculosis, as well as a small number of students who had active tuberculosis. However this outbreak was resolved and the school has since been running normally.
The then Rector, Tim O'Connor, was awarded a Woolf Fisher Fellowship and the Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award in 2007.

Rectors

The school has had ten rectors since 1902:
PeriodRector
1902William Gray
1902–1918John E. Vernon
1919–1946John Murray
1947–1954O. J. Begg
1954–1963Edward S. Craven
1963–1970Percy A. Muirhead
1971–1987Eric D. P. White
1987–2002D. A. Syms
2002–2012T. M. O'Connor
2012–presentD. M. Bovey

Facilities

The school has the following facilities:
These include:
College House is a boarding facility for approximately 180 students
College House provides seven day boarding for students that attend Palmerston North Boys' High School. Seven day boarding means that students can remain in the hostel during the weekends. Parents apply for weekend leave to allow their sons to go home in any given weekend.

Teaching Blocks

The school has 12 main teaching blocks. These include:
Palmerston North Boys' High School is divided into six 'clubs'. On enrolment students are placed in a club at random, or into a house with a family tie. Staff are also placed in clubs, with the exception of the Rector.
The clubs names and colours are as follows:
Murray Club, also known as College House, is composed of the school's boarding students.
The Clubs compete in sports and codes, including team sports, individual sports, and whole club activities, such as Road-Race and Marching competitions. For each code the clubs are ranked first to last, with the winning club gaining one point, and the loser gaining six. The club with the fewest points at the end of the school year wins the Shand Shield.

Sports

The school has experienced success nationally in sports such as football, cycling, badminton, squash, basketball, hockey and rugby.
The rugby union 1st XV plays in an all-white strip. Other rugby teams from Boys' High are likely to play in blue and white hooped jerseys, similar to Auckland or St Kentigern College.

Notable alumni

Sport

Cricket