Westland High School, Hokitika

Westland High School, previously Hokitika High School or Hokitika District High School, is a secondary school in Hokitika, New Zealand.

History

The first application to have a high school in Hokitika was made in 1879. In the following year, the Royal Commissioners on Universities and Secondary Schools supported this move in their report.^[1] The Hokitika High School Act 1883 was a piece of legislation championed by Gerard George Fitzgerald, member of parliament for the Hokitika electorate. The legislation, passed in September 1883, allowed for the establishment of a high school in Hokitika, formulated how the school board was to be determined, and gave the mechanism of dealing with land endowment.^[2] The school board, which first met in February 1884, came together at regular interval but found that it would have insufficient funds to pay for a headmaster.^[3][4] The impasse was broken by The Hokitika High School Act 1883 Amendment Act, 1890, which was sponsored by the local MP Joseph Grimmond.^[5][6][7] This enabled the high school to be established through a merger with the Hokitika State School, and Hokitika High School opened on Monday, 19 January 1891.^[8]

The school's name was changed in 1963 to Westland High School; this was accommodated through the Westland High School Amendment Act 1963.^[9]

The school war memorial is an obelisk that lists those pupils and teachers who served in WWI, and those who were killed in the Second Boer War and in WWII.^[10]

Today

Westland High School is coeducational and caters for years 7 to 13. It has a decile rating of 6 and a roll of 373. The school's address is 140 Hampden Street, Hokitika.^[11]

Notable pupils

• Ronald King (1909–1988), New Zealand rugby union player^[12]
• Stephen Lowe (born 1962), third Catholic Bishop of Hamilton, New Zealand^[13]
• Frederick Schramm (1886–1962), Labour MP for the Auckland East electorate^[14]

Notable staff

• Peter Hooper (1919–1991) was a New Zealand teacher, writer, bookseller and conservationist^[15]

References

1. "Hokitika School Committee". West Coast Times (4097). 2 June 1882. p. 2. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
2. "West Coast Times". West Coast Times (4411). 12 September 1883. p. 2. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
3. "West Coast Times". West Coast Times (4542). 14 February 1884. p. 2. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
4. "West Coast Times". West Coast Times (6461). 7 April 1887. p. 2. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
5. "Parliamentary News". West Coast Times (7794). 6 September 1890. p. 2. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
6. "Hokitika High School Act 1883 Amendment". knowledge-basket.co.nz.
7. "Parliamentary News". West Coast Times (7788). 29 August 1890. p. 2. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
8. "West Coast Times". West Coast Times (8056). 19 January 1891. p. 2. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
9. "Westland High School Act 1883". Parliamentary Counsel Office. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
10. "Hokitika school war memorial". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
11. "Te Kete Ipurangi - Westland High School, New Zealand – Westland High School". Ministry of Education. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
12. "King to Retire". Auckland Star. LXVIII (222). 18 September 1937. p. 10. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
13. "Bishop Stephen Lowe consecrated and installed as Bishop of Hamilton". Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch. 15 February 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
14. "New Members". The Press. LXVII (20410). 3 December 1931. p. 14. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
15. White, Pat. "Talking to NZSA one evening". WordPress. Retrieved 17 July 2015.

Coordinates: 42°43′02″S 170°58′22″E / 42.7172°S 170.9729°E