Christchurch Girls' High School

Christchurch Girls' High School
Christchurch Girls' High School Sapientia et Veritas "Wisdom and Truth"
Address
10 Matai Street, Riccarton, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand
Coordinates	43°31′30″S 172°36′39″E / 43.5249°S 172.6109°ECoordinates: 43°31′30″S 172°36′39″E / 43.5249°S 172.6109°E
Information
Type	State Single Sex Girls' Secondary (Year 9–13) with boarding facilities.
Established	1877
Ministry of Education Institution no.	328
Principal	Pauline Duthie (from 2014)
School roll	1107[1] (July 2016)
Socio-economic decile	9Q[2]
Website	www.cghs.school.nz

Christchurch Girls' High School in Christchurch, New Zealand, was established in 1877 and is the second oldest girls' secondary school in the country (Otago Girls' High School is older).^[3]

History

Christchurch Girls' High School was established in 1877, four years before Christchurch Boys' High School. The first headmistress was Mrs. Georgiana Ingle (a daughter of Richard Deodatus Poulett-Harris and half-sister of Lily Poulett-Harris). The second principal Helen Connon (later Helen Macmillan Brown) is better known as she was the first woman in any British university to gain an Honours degree.

The school's original building on Cranmer Square, which was renamed the Cranmer Centre, features prominently in the 1994 film Heavenly Creatures based on the 1954 Parker–Hulme murder case involving two students.

The school featured in national and international news in 1972 when two students led a "walkout"^[4][5] from school assembly to protest the inclusion of religion in school morning assemblies. At the time, schools in New Zealand were supposed to be secular but this was largely ignored and students were usually told to bring a note from their parents if they wanted to opt out of the religious component of school assemblies.

Present day

Christchurch Girls' High School, known to many as Girls' High or CGHS, provides boarding facilities for 95 students from years 9 to 13 at Acland House, located 20–30 minutes walk away from school.

The school stands by the Avon River, on a site it has occupied since 1986. Previously, the area was occupied by a mill that was first built in 1861 by William Derisley Wood, which became known as the Riccarton Mill.^[6]

The February 2011 Christchurch earthquake had a large impact on the school: it caused extensive damage to the current site;^[7] the old Cranmer Centre site was damaged so badly that it was later demolished - and the school's principal at the time, Prue Taylor, lost her husband Brian in the CTV Building collapse.^[8]

Pauline Duthie, the current principal of the school, was appointed in 2014.

Notable alumnae

• Leila Adu, singer^[9]
• Alice Candy (1888–1977), academic and second woman lecturer at Canterbury College^[10]
• Elsie Dohrmann (1875 - 1909), temperance campaigner^[11]
• Eileen Fairbairn (1893–1981), teacher and geographer^[12]
• Marama Fox, politician and co-leader of the Māori Party^[13]
• Beatrice Gibson, principal of Nelson College for Girls for ten years^[14]
• Helen Gibson (1868–1938), founder of Rangi Ruru Girls' School^[15]
• Mary Gibson (1864–1929), Principal of CGHS for thirty years^[15]
• Stella Henderson (1871-1926), first woman Parliamentary reporter for a major New Zealand newspaper^[16]
• Edith Searle Grossmann (1863–1931), writer and teacher^[17]
• Elizabeth Herriott (1882–1936), academic and first woman lecturer at Canterbury College^[18]
• Margaret Lorimer (1866–1954), mountaineer and Principal of Nelson College for Girls for twenty years^[19]
• Pauline Parker (born 1938), convicted murderer^[20]
• Anne Perry (born 1938 as Juliet Hulme), English author and convicted murderer^[20]
• Christabel Robinson (1898-1988)^[21]
• Myrtle Simpson (1905–1981)^[22]
• Gwen Somerset (1894–1988), adult educator and writer
• Fay Weldon, (born 1931), English author^[23]

Notable staff

• Kate Edger (1857–1935), first woman university graduate in New Zealand^[24]
• Emily Foster (1842 - 1897)^[25]
• Christina Henderson (1861 - 1953)^[26]
• Leila Hurle (1901 - 1989)^[27]
• Stephanie Young (1890 - 1983)^[28]

References

1. "Directory of Schools - as at 2 August 2016". New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
2. "Decile Change 2014 to 2015 for State & State Integrated Schools". Ministry of Education. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
3. Lovell-Smith, Melanie (8 Dec 2001). "Cranmer Centre (Former Christchurch Girls High)". New Zealand Historic Places Trust Pouhere Taonga. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
4. Sally Varnham. "'Getting Rid of Troublemakers': The Right to Education and School Safety – Individual Student vs School Community" (PDF). Austlii.edu.au. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
6. "The Riccarton Mill before the business was transferred to Addington". Christchurch City Libraries. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
7. Structural Inspection Report - 24 June 2011
8. Williams, David; Young, Rachel (10 February 2012). "CTV building's flaws went unnoticed". The Press. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
9. "Articles / Interviews | Leila Adu". www.leilaadu.com. Retrieved 2015-11-10.
10. Gardner, W. J. "Alice Muriel Flora Candy". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved December 2011. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
11. Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Foster, Emily Sophia". www.teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
12. Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Fairbairn, Eileen". www.teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 2015-11-10.
13. "I wanted to know what they were saying". E-Tangata - A Māori and Pasifika Sunday magazine. 2015-04-11. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
14. "Christchurch.". West Coast Times. 1884-01-30. p. 2. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
15. Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Gibson, Helena Fannie and Gibson, Mary Victoria". www.teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 2015-11-13.
16. Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Henderson, Stella May". www.teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 2016-06-09.
17. Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Grossmann, Edith Searle". www.teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
18. Thomson, A.D. "Some Pioneer Women Graduates in Botany from Canterbury University College" (PDF). Centre for Studies on New Zealand Science History. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 February 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
19. Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Lorimer, Margaret". www.teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
20. "Pauline Parker". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 20 December 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
21. Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Robinson, Christabel Elizabeth". www.teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
22. Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Simpson, Myrtle May". www.teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
23. Steward, By Ian (2009-11-09). "'Hum of lesbianism' at girls' school". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
24. "Kate Edger | NZHistory, New Zealand history online". www.nzhistory.net.nz. Retrieved 2016-02-12.
25. Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Foster, Emily Sophia". www.teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
26. Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Henderson, Christina Kirk". www.teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 2016-06-10.
27. Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Hurle, Leila Agnes Sophie". www.teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 2016-05-15.
28. Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Young, Stephanie Grace". www.teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 2016-05-15.

External links

• School website
• Education Review Office (ERO) reports
• Heavenly Creatures Website at Geocities.com