Waitaki Boys' High School

Waitaki Boys' High School is a secondary school for boys located in the northern part of the town of Oamaru, Otago, New Zealand, with day and boarding facilities, and was founded in 1883., it has a school roll of approximately 400 students.
The school has a house system with four houses, Don, Forrester, Lee and Sutherland. It organises some cultural activities together with its nearby sister school, Waitaki Girls' High School.
The school is notable for its British colonial architecture, encompassing such historic buildings such as the Hall of Memories, an assembly hall, built to honour its former pupils who died in various wars. Most of the blocks of classrooms at Waitaki Boys High School are named after famous past students, also known as Waitakians or Old Boys. The main, and oldest block of the school is named after Denis Blundell.

WWW waitakibhs.school.nz

History

The idea of establishing a boys' high school in Oamaru originated with Samuel Shrimski, who was one of the two members of parliament representing the Waitaki electorate.

Enrolment

As of, the school has roll of students, of which identify as Māori.
As of, the school has an Equity Index of, placing it amongst schools whose students have socioeconomic barriers to achievement.

Rectors

The following is a complete list of the rectors of Waitaki Boys' High School:

	Name	Term
1	John Harkness	1883–1896
2	John Robert Don	1897–1906
3	Frank Milner	1906–1944
4	Jim Burrows	1945–1949
5	Malcolm Leadbetter	1950–1960
6	John Hammond Donaldson	1961–1976
7	Keith Albert Laws	1976–1985
8	Geoff Tait	1986–1988
9	Benjamin Rory Gollop	1988–1998
10	Paul Baker	1999–2011
11	Paul Jackson	2012–2015
12	Clive Rennie	2016
13	Darryl Paterson	2017–present

Notable alumni

Peter Arnett – journalist
Fraser Barron – bomber pilot during World War II
James Bertram – professor, journalist
Denis Blundell – lawyer, governor-general
W. D. Borrie – demographer and academic
Charles Brasch – poet
Douglas Carter – former National MP for the Raglan electorate
Ian Cathcart – basketball player
Bramwell Cook - Salvation Army officer and doctor
Gonville ffrench-Beytagh – Dean of Johannesburg and an anti-apartheid activist.
Sir Malcolm Grant – chairman of NHS England and Chancellor, University of York
Ron Guthrey – Mayor of Christchurch
Dean Hall – video game designer, mountaineer
A. M. Hamilton – engineer
Brian Henderson – newsreader in Australia
Lindsay Merritt Inglis, a senior officer in the New Zealand Military Forces
Chris Jackson – medical oncologist and professor at University of Otago
Donald Gilbert Kennedy, DSO, Navy Cross – teacher, colonial administrator and Coastwatcher during the Solomon Islands campaign.
Dylan Kennett – Olympian and World Champion Track Cyclist
Nigel Latta – clinical psychologist, author and broadcaster
Douglas Lilburn – Professor, composer
Robert Macintosh, first Nuffield Professor of Anaesthetics, Oxford
Terry McCombs – politician, headmaster
Greg McGee – rugby union player and playwright
Ian McLean – politician, economist
Arnold Nordmeyer – politician, Labour Party Minister of Finance 1957–1960
David Sewell – cricketer
Foss Shanahan – diplomat
Angus Tait – electronics innovator and businessman
Des Wilson – campaigner in Britain