Burnside High School

Burnside High School (Waimairi-iri)
Aerial view of Burnside High
Address
Greers Road Burnside Christchurch 8053 New Zealand
Coordinates	43°30′27″S 172°34′34″E / 43.5075°S 172.5762°E / -43.5075; 172.5762Coordinates: 43°30′27″S 172°34′34″E / 43.5075°S 172.5762°E / -43.5075; 172.5762
Information
Funding type	State, non-integrated
Motto	Latin: Recte Sic Dirige Cursum (Thus direct thy path aright (In this way direct your course correctly))
Established	1960
Ministry of Education Institution no.	319
Principal	Phil Holstein
Years offered	9–13
Gender	Coeducational
School roll	2564[1] (July 2017)
Socio-economic decile	8P[2]
Website	burnside.school.nz

Burnside High School girls

Burnside High School (Māori: Waimairi-iri) is a state co-educational secondary school located in the suburb of Burnside in Christchurch, New Zealand. With a roll of 2564 students,^[1] it is the largest school in New Zealand outside Auckland , and is among the country's six largest schools.

History

The Burnside property, an area of 59 hectares (150 acres), belonged to Canterbury University College (later the University of Canterbury) as an endowment. When the college considered moving away from its central city site, the Burnside property was considered, but the college purchased what is now known as the Ilam campus from the late 1940s instead. A reduced land area was used by the Ministry of Education for Burnside High School.^[3]

The school's construction started in 1959. A swimming pool was added in 1961, which became fully functional in 1964 after the addition of filtration equipment. The gymnasium was soon constructed afterwards. In 2004 and 2005 construction of a new block, library and administration area began. These were opened in 2006 by Helen Clark, then Prime Minister of New Zealand. The school's fiftieth jubilee was held in 2010, attended by John Key, an ex-pupil and Prime Minister of New Zealand. Following damage caused by the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, Avonside Girls' High School shared the facilities of Burnside High School. Avonside Girls' High School relocated back to their home site in 2012.^[4] Burnside High School, due to being relatively undamaged and with power and water restored shortly after the quake, was used as a welfare centre by Civil Defence.^[5]

On 28 March 2012 the school was put into lockdown after students reported seeing a man walking the grounds carrying a silver pistol, which was later found by police to be plastic.^[6]

Enrolment

Burnside, like many secondary schools in Christchurch, operates an enrolment scheme to help curb roll numbers and prevent overcrowding. The school's zone includes the suburbs of Burnside and Bryndwr, and parts of Bishopdale, Fendalton, Ilam and Avonhead.^[7]

At the August 2013 Education Review Office (ERO) review of the school, the school had 2416 students enrolled, including 135 international students. Forty-seven percent of students were male and 53 percent were female. Sixty-three percent of students identified as European (including 56 percent as New Zealand European or Pākehā), 22 percent as Asian, eight percent as Māori, two percent as Pacific Islanders, and five percent as another ethnicity.^[8]

Structure

The school is split into four divisions – North, South, West and Senior, the first three consisting of students from Years 9–12 and Senior division consisting of only Year 13 students. Each division has a guidance counsellor, three deans and a divisional principal and, in addition, Senior Division includes a careers advisor. The school has a Principal, Second Principal, Assistant Principal, 3 Divisional Principals, 12 deans and 13 Heads of Department.

Current leadership/management:

Principal: Phil Holstein – commenced in 2015; he replaced Warwick Maguire^[9]

Grounds and facilities

Night photo of the historical cabbage tree on the grounds of Burnside High School, September 2016

Like most New Zealand state secondary schools built in the 1960s, the school as largely built to the "Nelson 2H" plan. The Nelson 2H is distinguished by its two-storey H-shaped classroom blocks, with stairwells at each end of the block and a large ground floor toilet and cloak area on one side.^[10] Burnside has five of these blocks: A, B, D, E and F blocks.

The school has a school-broadcast system designed as an Armed Intruder Lockdown Scheme in the event of a Virginia Tech style school shooting , which informs teachers and students of an armed intruder, and safety measures to be taken to ensure classrooms and buildings are locked down for safety.

Academics

As a state school, Burnside High School follows the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC). In Years 11 to 13, students complete the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA), the main secondary school qualification in New Zealand.

Notable alumni

The View of the entrance to Burnside High School, September 2016

• Eleanor Catton – Acclaimed author, 2013 Man Booker Prize winner.
• Andrew Ellis – All Black. Member of the 2011 Rugby World Cup winning team.
• Rob Fyfe – Chief Executive Officer of Air New Zealand
• John Key – Prime Minister of New Zealand (2008–2016)^[11]
• Henry Suluvale – Western Samoan rugby league player
• Hayley Westenra – Operatic pop singer

Notes

References

• Gardner, W. J.; Beardsley, E. T.; Carter, T. E. (1973). Phillips, Neville Crompton, ed. A History of the University of Canterbury, 1873–1973. Christchurch: University of Canterbury. 
• O'Connor, Paul (2009). Choosing the Right Path: Burnside High School 1960–2010. Christchurch: Silver Fox Publishing. ISBN 978-0-473-15685-5. 
• Jubilee Committee (1985). Burnside High School: the first 25 years, 1960–1985. Christchurch: Jubilee Committee. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Burnside High School.

• Official website
• Education Review Office (ERO) reports