Hāwera High School

Hāwera High School was a secondary school in the New Zealand town of Hāwera, which operated from 1901^[4] until 2022.

Hāwera High School
Location
13 Camberwell Road, Hāwera New Zealand
Coordinates	39.5853°S 174.2744°E / -39.5853; 174.2744
Information
Type	State co-educational secondary, years 9–13
Motto	Infirmioribus Succurrendo Fortior, Strength Through Service, Kia Kaha Te Awhina
Opened	1919
Principal	Rachel Williams[1]
School roll	[2] (July 2025)
Socio-economic decile	5M[3]

History

The school's history began as a primary school in 1875, which was reformed as a district high school in 1901. In 1919, the school was again changed, this time as a technical school, with an opening roll of 180 students. The school moved from its original site in Princes Street to a new base in Camberwell Road two years later. The school had a roll of around 400 by the outbreak of World War II. The roll continued to grow in the post-war years, reaching a peak of over 1000 in the early 1970s.^[5] The current roll sits between 720 and 750 students.

In late 2021, it was announced that Hāwera High School and Hāwera Intermediate would close, and a new, Years 7–13, school would open in 2023.^[6] The new school was named Te Paepae o Aotea, a name gifted by local iwi Ngāti Ruanui and Ngāruahine.^[7]

Notable students

Main category: People educated at Hawera High School

• Aroha Awarau, playwright and journalist
• Michael Bent (born 1986), Rugby Union Player, International Rugby Player for Ireland
• Ian Clarke (1931–1997), All Black and rugby administrator
• Enid Evans (1914–2011), chief librarian at the Auckland War Memorial Museum Library
• Ben Hurley, stand-up comedian^[8]
• Issac Luke (born 1987), rugby league player
• Ronald Hugh Morrieson (1922–1972), author
• Margaret Nielsen (1933–2023), pianist and music teacher
• William Sheat (1899–1982), member of parliament^[9]
• Hiwi Tauroa (1927–2018), rugby union player and Race Relations Conciliator
• Lene Westgaard-Halle (born 1979), politician, member of the Norwegian Parliament
• Adine Wilson (née Harper, born 1979), Silver Fern