Rotorua Boys' High School
Address
Pukuatua Street Rotorua New Zealand
Coordinates	38°8′19.59″S 176°14′17.25″E / 38.1387750°S 176.2381250°E / -38.1387750; 176.2381250
Information
Type	State single-sex secondary
Motto	Latin: Ad Astra Per Aspera Māori: Whaia Te Iti Kahurangi (To the stars through hard work. Search for great things.[1])
Established	1927
Ministry of Education Institution no.	152
Principal	A.C. Grinter MNZM
Years offered	9 – 13
Gender	Male
School roll	1178[2] (April 2023)
Houses	Ngongotahā (Drake), Te Akitu (Frobisher), Rotorua-nui-ā-Kahumatamomoe (Nelson) and Utuhina (Raleigh)
Colour(s)	Red and Blue
Song	Rotorua Boys High School Song
Nickname	Raukura
Socio-economic decile	3G[3]
Website	rbhs.school.nz

Rotorua Boys' High School is a state school educating boys from Year 9 to Year 13. It is situated just outside the Rotorua CBD at the intersection of Old Taupo Road and Pukuatua Street in Rotorua, New Zealand. The school is governed by an elected School Board, of which the Principal is ex officio a member under guidelines laid down by the New Zealand Ministry of Education.^[4]

History

Rotorua Boys' High School had its beginnings as the Rotorua High and Grammar School, founded in 1927^[5] to replace the earlier Rotorua District High School (1914–1926). By 1956 it had a roll in excess of 1200 students.^[6] Revenues for the school came from land gifted by the Ngāti Whakaue people for the Town of Rotorua in 1880 under the Fenton Agreement.^{[7][8][9][10]}

The Intermediate Department was closed when Rotorua Intermediate School was established in 1957. The Rotorua High School was further split to make room for a growing population of the district and its educational needs when, in 1959 Rotorua Girls' High School was opened. Rotorua High School was then established as Rotorua Boys' High School and commenced to function as a state secondary school for boys with a roll of 640 pupils in February 1959.^[11]

Two memorial honours boards titled Pro Patria 1939-1945 Non Omnis Moriar either side of the stage in the school’s assembly hall commemorate 61 RBHS veterans who died in World War 2 military service. Also listed on the second board are two from the Vietnam War and one for World War 1. A photograph of each is placed next to their name. Another honours board lists War Orders, Decorations and Medals bestowed on 17 veterans from the school.^[12]

In the 1980s, the school was an early adopter of computer technology both in its central administration and in delivery of classroom teaching via the government-backed Poly-1. Funds for the purchases came from the Ngāti Whakaue grant.^[13][14]

The boys’ and girls’ high schools have collaborated on debates, plays and musical productions, such as Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2019,^[15] and In The Heights in 2022.^[16]

In 2019, Rotorua Boys' High School won the Prime Minister of New Zealand Supreme Award for Excellence in Education, at the same time winning Excellence in Leading Award, making it the top school in the country for that year.^[17][18][19] The school was also named Finalist, Excellence in Teaching & Learning Award.^[20]

In the 2022 New Year Honours, the school's principal Chris Grinter was appointed a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit "for services to education and Māori after spending the 'vast majority' of his career dedicated to schools with high Māori populations".^[21]

Two books about Rotorua Boys' High School's history by archivist Kevin Lyall have been published, the first in 2003^[22] and the second to mark the school’s 2014 centenary.^[23]

Houses

From 1927 till 2020, Rotorua Boys' High School's four houses were known as Drake, Frobisher, Nelson and Raleigh, after great British explorers and seafarers. At the end of 2020, in a climate influenced by the American Black Lives Matter movement, and supported by evidence that each of the four British namesakes had varying levels of involvement with slavery, the houses were given new names. These new names, which were also felt to be more relevant to the pupils of today, came into effect at the beginning of 2021:^[24]

• Ngongotaha — red, formerly known as Drake
• Te Akitu a Raukura — yellow, formerly known as Frobisher
• Te Rotoruanui-a-Kahu — blue, formerly known as Nelson
• Utuhina — green, formerly known as Raleigh

Sport

Rotorua Boys' High School is well-known for its sports programme, particularly in rugby union,^[25] and has its own Rugby Field, Soccer Field, Cricket Ground, Basketball and Tennis Courts, and a Gymnasium, which are sometimes also hired to approved sporting bodies.^[26] Five 'sports academies' are offered to students:^[27]

• Basketball
• Football
• Golf
• Hockey
• Rugby

The school’s own geothermal swimming pool, built in 1954, closed in the early 1990s in compliance with government forced bore closures across Rotorua.^[28] The new Science Block now occupies the area where the pool once stood. Following a stint at the Blue Baths, RBHS Swimming Sports moved to the Aquatic Centre in 1994.^[29] In November 2022, the Aquatic Centre closed for renovations until early 2024.^[30]

Four RBHS old boys competed in the Beijing Olympics: kayaker Mike Walker, shooter Robbie Eastham, footballer Sam Messam and cyclist Sam Bewley. Following the Olympics in 2009, the athletes were honoured with a whole-school haka.^[31]

Hostel

In 2005, Rotorua Boys' High School officially opened the Tai Mitchell Hostel, an onsite boarding facility, at a cost of $3.5 million. Named after the former Chair of the Te Arawa District Maori Council and Chair of the Arawa Trust Board, Tai Mitchell,^[32] the facility is designed to accommodate 104 students, roughly 10 percent of the school roll.^[33][18][19]

Education Department review

In 2009, the New Zealand Ministry of Education appointed a limited statutory manager Dennis Finn to investigate alleged mismanagement, inappropriate drug-testing and financial issues regarding the school's Hostel.^[34] Despite vehement protests from parents, following his investigation, Finn found that the school had no case to answer, and the boys who had been suspended were subsequently reinstated, with "letters of explanation".^[35]

In October 2022, the New Zealand Education Review Office published a Profile Report on Rotorua Boys' High School.^[36] Among his findings, the review director Phil Cowie wrote that RBHS had in place “a well-established, collaborative and robust school-wide evaluation process, highly effective leadership across all areas of the school, well-established educationally powerful connections, communication and relationships, and with Māori whānau, hapū, iwi and parents, families and communities, to support student learning and outcomes,” and that the school had addressed equity concerns and academic outcomes to provide a strong and positive base for initiatives. The report made recommendations concerning NCEA implementation on “corequisites around literacy and numeracy, and building a strong base for common assessment activities; continuing a focus on the wellbeing of students and staff based on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and partnerships with whānau and parents and creating a pathway for Tikanga Māori to be added as a core subject for all Year 12 ākonga^[37] in 2023.”

Notable alumni

References

External links

• Official website
• "Rotorua Boy's High School | videography |". YouTube.
• Official Facebook page. Facebook