Palmerston North Girls' High School is a secondary school for girls, located in the suburb of West End in the city of Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Location
The main entrance of the school is located on Fitzherbert Avenue, near the Victoria Esplanade. Adjacent to the north are Huia Street and tennis courts. Behind the school is Manawaroa/Ongley Park.
History
In 1902, Palmerston North High School was a co-ed secondary school created with an initial roll of 84 students (40 boys and 44 girls). The first classes were held at St Andrews Presbyterian Church Sunday School hall.
In 1912, Palmerston North High School was split into two single-sex schools: Palmerston North Girls’ High School and Palmerston North Boys’ High School.
School houses
Palmerston North Girls' High School is divided into four houses. On enrolment, students are placed in a house at random, or into a house with family ties if possible. Staff are also placed in the houses. Each house is named after a former principal of the school.
The house names and colours are as follows:
Colours
Name
Rhodes
Stephens
Mills
Hodges
The student councils organise events, many of which contribute to the inter-house competition and points towards the award of the Nash Cup.
Demographics
At the September 2010 Education Review Office (ERO) review, Palmerston North Girls' High School had 1202 students enrolled, including 22 international students. 64 percent of students identified as New Zealand European (Pākehā), 17 percent identified as Māori, three percent as Pacific Islanders, and 16 percent as another ethnicity.[3]
Palmerston North Girls' High School has a socio-economic decile of 8 (step P), meaning it draws its school community from areas of moderate to high socioeconomic advantage when compared to other New Zealand schools. This changed from decile 9 (step Q) at the beginning of 2015, as part of the nationwide review of deciles following the 2013 census.[2]
