Hillcrest High School, Hamilton

Hillcrest High School is a state coeducational secondary school located in south-eastern Hamilton, New Zealand. The school is named after the suburb of Hillcrest for which it serves, although the school itself is actually located in Silverdale. Opened in 1972,[4] the school has a roll of 1728 students as of August 2024. making it the second-largest school in Hamilton.[2]

Hillcrest High School
Te Kura Tuarua O Tihipuke
Address
Map
132 Masters Avenue
Silverdale
Hamilton 3216
New Zealand
Coordinates37°47′34″S 175°19′34″E / 37.79278°S 175.32611°E / -37.79278; 175.32611
Information
Funding typeState
MottoLatin: Circumspice
(Look Around You)
Established1972
Ministry of Education Institution no.138
ChairpersonAndrew Don
PrincipalChristine Williams[1]
Years offered9–13
GenderCoeducational
School roll1728[2]
Socio-economic decile7[3]
Websitehillcrest-high.school.nz

History

edit

Hillcrest High School is the second youngest school out of the state and state-integrated secondary schools in Hamilton (the youngest before the opening of Rototuna Junior and Senior High Schools), opening for instruction for the first time in January 1972.[4] Like many New Zealand state secondary schools built in the 1970s, Hillcrest was built to the S68 standard design. The school has three full-sized S68 blocks (B, C, and D blocks) and one half-sized S68 block (western half of E block – the eastern half is a later addition).

Enrolment

edit

At the April 2013 Education Review Office (ERO) review of the school, Hillcrest High School had 1630 students, including 35 international students. The school roll's gender composition was 47% male and 53% female, and its ethnic composition was 52% European New Zealanders (Pākehā), 20.5% Asian, 14% Māori, 7% other European, and 4% Pasifika.[5]

Curriculum

edit

The school examines students using the New Zealand standard, National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA). Cambridge examinations for Mathematics and English are also available for able Year 12 students. A wide variety of subjects can be taken at Hillcrest High, ranging from Visual Art to Mechanics, international languages as well as standard subjects such as English, Mathematics and Science.

Hillcrest students received a total of 54 scholarships, the sixth highest number of scholarships of any high school in the North Island. Seven Hillcrest students received Top Scholar Awards from the New Zealand Qualifications Authority between 2002–5.[6] A student in 2008 scored 99% in the Cambridge English exam, achieving the highest score in the world.[7]

Motto

edit

There are two commonplace Latin pronunciations: in Ecclesiastical Latin the school motto 'Circumspice' is pronounced chir-koom-spee-cheh,[8] in Classical Latin it is pronounced as keer-koom-speek-eh.[9] It means 'look around you'.

Notable alumni

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Chairperson, Andrew Don BOT (4 March 2024). "New Principal Appointed". Hillcrest High School. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b "New Zealand Schools Directory". New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  3. ^ "Decile Change 2014 to 2015 for State & State Integrated Schools". Ministry of Education. 29 November 2013. Archived from the original on 24 January 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
  4. ^ a b Carson, Jonathan (9 March 2013). "Two new schools for Hamilton". Waikato Times (via Stuff.co.nz). Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  5. ^ "Hillcrest High School Education Review". Education Review Office. 23 June 2013. Retrieved 7 December 2015.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "Recent Academic Achievements". Hillcrest High School. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
  7. ^ Harper, Rebecca (12 February 2009). "Students best in the world". Waikato Times. Archived from the original on 28 May 2009.
  8. ^ "Ecclesiastical Latin". Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
  9. ^ "The Pronunciation of Ecclesiastical Latin and Classical Latin". Archived from the original on 3 March 2010. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  10. ^ Shaw, Aimee (11 October 2019). "Who is Air NZ's incoming CEO Greg Foran?". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  11. ^ "Jesse Mulligan to Defend 'worst TV show ever made' | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
edit