Hillcrest High School (New Zealand)

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,^[3] the school has a roll of 1802 students as of July 2016. making it the second-largest school in Hamilton.^[1]

History

Hillcrest High School is the youngest of the ten state and state-integrated secondary schools in Hamilton, opening for instruction for the first time in January 1972, although it plans to be superseded by a new secondary school at Rototuna in about 2016.^[3] Like many New Zealand state secondary schools built in the 1970s, Hillcrest was built to the S68 common design plan, characterised by single-storey classroom blocks of concrete block or brick construction (Hillcrest uses brick), with low-pitched roofs, protruding clerestory windows and internal open courtyards. 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

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% New Zealand European (Pākehā), 20.5% Asian, 14% Māori, 7% other European, and 4% Pacific Islanders.^[4]

Curriculum

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 High is reasonably well known because of its academic success. In 2005, 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.^[5] A student in 2008 scored 99% in the Cambridge English exam, achieving the highest score in the world.^[6]

Extracurricular cultural activities

Hillcrest High often puts on regular concerts and other cultural events. Below, is a brief list of the regular events:

• ILC Concert, held in August every year, hosted by Assistant Principal, Mrs. Sue Radford.
• International Concert is held yearly also, in March. The International Concert is held to recognise the multi-culturalness of Hillcrest High. International cuisine can also be sampled beforehand.
• School productions is also a regular, three yearly event. Usually a musical and held at a Hamilton City theatre. These musicals have included Seussical (2006), a musical based on Dr.Seuss's works, Spamalot (2009), a musical based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The most recent musical was Guys and Dolls (2014).
• There are also drama productions held usually at least once a school term. This will usually include a Shakespeare production, a 6th form production and a 7th form production.

Student groups and clubs

Involvement in cultural activities is an important part of Hillcrest High School. Annual events include the school production and an International Concert that reflects the multiculturalism of the school. The school has social interest groups, including United Nations Youth, Amnesty International, Students Against Drunk Driving, Greenpeace and an Eastside Pentecostal Christian Group and a Bible Society Bible study group. The school also offer clubs to students who share the passion of an activity, including a tramping, surf, skateboarding and chess clubs.

Motto

There are two commonplace Latin pronunciations: in Ecclesiastical Latin the school motto 'Circumspice' is pronounced chir-koom-spee-cheh,^[7] in Classical Latin it is pronounced as keer-koom-speek-eh.^[8] It means 'look around you'.

Notable people

• James Baker, first-class cricketer
• Greg Foran, CEO of Walmart USA. Former head of Woolworths supermarkets in Australia.^[9]
• Laura Langman, plays for the Silver Ferns, the New Zealand international Netball team. Graduated from this school in 2003
• Kimbra Johnson, musician based in Melbourne, Australia. Graduated from this school in 2007
• Anjali Thakker, New Zealand ice and inline hockey player
• Sonia Waddell, graduated from this school in 1991. Represented New Zealand in rowing at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics
• Allison Wray, neurosurgeon^[10]

References

External links

• Education Review Office (ERO) reports for Hillcrest High School