Papakura High School


Papakura High School is a co-educational state secondary school based in the Auckland suburb of Papakura in New Zealand, catering for students from Year 9 to Year 13.
The school was established in 1954 and is now made up of a diverse student body, administering students from the greater southern Auckland area. The school is located on the southern boundary of the Auckland metropolitan area, located approximately 32 kilometers south of Auckland CBD.
In 2017 the School Rebranded and updated their Motto to: Kia Rangatira.

School structure

The school is organised into three whanau: Kirikiri, Te Aparangi, and Otuuwairoa. The three whanaus are each named after obsolete place names in the Papakura area. These three whanau replaced the school's old house structure at the beginning of the 2017 school year.

2015 ERO Report

's Education Review Office summarised their 2015 report on Papakura High School with the remark "Papakura High School continues a history of poor performance and is not providing a curriculum that adequately promotes student learning." The report identified a number of problems relating to curriculum, achievement, planning and leadership. Management of student behaviour was identified as a particular concern, with the report noting that "Pastoral care and student management systems have not been thoroughly reviewed and evaluated, despite ongoing recommendations."

School curriculum

The school offers NCEA as its national qualification standard. Students are able to sit NCEA Level 1 papers as early Year 11, however Papakura High School is one of the few colleges in Auckland to offer an NCEA Level 1 Humanities class to academically able Year 10 students also.
Selected senior students have the opportunity to participate in "Gateway", where they individually attend work experience placements during the school term, organised by the Careers department. The school also offers Correspondence papers for specialised subjects and regularly holds workshops and information sessions for students and their chosen programme.
The school also recently introduced national qualifications into unit standard courses of Mathematics, Sports and Recreation, Technology, and Catering, where students can work towards NCEA credits as well as gaining a national qualification. Papakura High School was the first school in New Zealand to offer the Marae Catering course under the NCEA structure.

Notable alumni