Waitaki Boys' High School facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Waitaki Boys' High School |
|
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 45°04′37″S 170°59′41″E / 45.0769°S 170.9946°E |
| Information | |
| Type | State, Boys, Secondary years 9–15 |
| Motto | Latin: Quanti est sapere (How valuable is Wisdom) |
| Established | 1883 |
| Ministry of Education Institution no. | 365 |
| Rector | Darryl Paterson |
| School roll | 415 (February 2024) |
| Socio-economic decile | 6N |
| Website | waitakibhs.school.nz |
Waitaki Boys' High School is a high school just for boys. It is located in Oamaru, a town in the Otago region of New Zealand. The school started in 1883.
Students can live at the school (boarding) or just come for the day. As of 2020, about 400 students attend the school.
The school has four different groups, called houses: Don, Forrester, Lee, and Sutherland. Waitaki Boys' High School also works with its nearby sister school, Waitaki Girls' High School, for some fun cultural events.
Many of the school's buildings have a special old British style. The Hall of Memories is a famous building there. It is an assembly hall built to remember students who died in wars. Most classrooms are named after famous past students, who are also called Waitakians or Old Boys. The oldest main building is named after Denis Blundell.
School History
The idea for a boys' high school in Oamaru came from Samuel Shrimski. He was a Member of Parliament for the Waitaki area. He thought it was important to have a school for boys there.
School Leaders (Rectors)
The person in charge of a school is often called a rector. Here is a list of all the rectors who have led Waitaki Boys' High School since it began:
| Number | Name | Years in Charge |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Harkness | 1883–1896 |
| 2 | John Robert Don | 1897–1906 |
| 3 | Frank Milner | 1906–1944 |
| 4 | Jim Burrows | 1945–1949 |
| 5 | Malcolm Leadbetter | 1950–1960 |
| 6 | John Hammond Donaldson | 1961–1976 |
| 7 | Keith Albert Laws | 1976–1985 |
| 8 | Geoff Tait | 1986–1988 |
| 9 | Benjamin Rory Gollop | 1988–1998 |
| 10 | Paul Baker | 1999–2011 |
| 11 | Paul Jackson | 2012–2015 |
| 12 | Clive Rennie | 2016 |
| 13 | Darryl Paterson | 2017–present |
Famous Former Students
Many students from Waitaki Boys' High School have become famous. Here are some of them:
- Peter Arnett – a well-known journalist.
- Fraser Barron – a brave bomber pilot during World War II.
- James Bertram – a professor and journalist.
- Denis Blundell – a lawyer who became the Governor-General of New Zealand.
- Charles Brasch – a famous poet.
- Douglas Carter – a former Member of Parliament (MP) for the Raglan area. An MP is a person elected to make laws for the country.
- Gonville ffrench-Beytagh (1912–1991) – a church leader (Dean) in South Africa who worked against apartheid. Apartheid was a system of unfair rules that separated people based on their race.
- Sir Malcolm Grant – he was in charge of NHS England, which runs healthcare in England. He was also the head of the University College London.
- Ron Guthrey – he was the Mayor of Christchurch, a big city in New Zealand.
- Dean Hall – a video game designer and mountain climber.
- A. M. Hamilton – an engineer.
- Brian Henderson – a newsreader in Australia.
- Lindsay Merritt Inglis (1894–1966) – a high-ranking officer in the New Zealand Army.
- Donald Gilbert Kennedy (1898–1976) – a teacher and leader in colonies. He was also a Coastwatcher during World War II, helping to spot enemy ships and planes.
- Dylan Kennett (1994–) – an Olympian and World Champion in track cycling.
- Douglas Lilburn – a professor and composer of music.
- Robert Macintosh (1897–1989) – a very important professor of anaesthetics at Oxford University. Anaesthetics are medicines that stop you from feeling pain during surgery.
- Terry McCombs – a politician and a headmaster.
- Greg McGee – a rugby player and a writer of plays.
- Ian McLean – a politician and an economist. An economist studies how money and goods are made and used.
- Arnold Nordmeyer (1901–1989) – a politician who was the Minister of Finance for the Labour Party.
- David Sewell – a cricketer.
- Foss Shanahan – a diplomat. A diplomat works for their country to build relationships with other countries.
- Angus Tait – a person who created new things in electronics and a businessman.
- Des Wilson – a campaigner in Britain, meaning he worked to bring about changes for important causes.
