Palmerston North Boys' High School

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 (Also known as 'Murray House,' after former Rector John Murray; his former home is part of the hostel).

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 (40 boys and 44 girls, the first person being on the roll was a girl). 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 [2003] 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 amount 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 nine rectors:

Facilities

The school has the following facilities:

These include:

Cultural

Sporting

Clubs

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 (the same as his brothers, father, grandfather or uncles). 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 least points at the end of the school year wins the Shand Shield.

Sports

The school has experienced success nationally in sports such as soccer, 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.