Sacred Heart Girls' College, Hamilton

Sacred Heart Girls' College
Address
52 Clyde St, Hamilton East, Hamilton
Coordinates	37°47′31″S 175°17′41″E
Information
Type	State single-sex girls, Secondary (Year 9–13).
Motto	Age Quod Agis
Established	1884; 141 years ago
Ministry of Education Institution no.	139
Headmaster	Catherine Gunn
School roll	902[1] (November 2024)
Socio-economic decile	7O[2]
Website	www.shgcham.school.nz

Sacred Heart Girls College is a state integrated Catholic Girls' secondary school in Hamilton, New Zealand. The school was established by the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions in 1884. The school crest features the monogram SH and the symbol †, with the motto "Age Quod Agis" across the bottom, translating loosely into "What ever you do, do to the best of your ability".

Sacred Heart Girls' College has a strong relationship with its brother Catholic school, St John's College.

History

In 1884, Sacred Heart Girls' College was opened as a Catholic Secondary School by the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions to provide an education for Catholic women in the Waikato. Originally small, the campus has now extended both buildings and land. New netball and tennis courts were added and there is now a new Arts Block and library. The school has around 900 students.

In November 2017, the school was set on fire by a former student who threw a firework into the staffroom, causing part of the building to be destroyed. The fire, which amounted to millions of dollars in damage, took almost four hours to be put out by 60 firefighters. The former staffroom has since been replaced by several new rooms, including three science laboratories, an atrium, a students centre and learning centres, which has cost approximately NZ$5 million.^[3]

Houses

The College has six houses named after famous women in the Catholic faith:

Aubert

(Orange) – Suzanne Aubert, foundress of Daughters of Our Lady of Compassion

Avila

(Purple) – St Teresa of Avila

Barbier

(Yellow) – Adèle Euphrasie Barbier, foundress of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions

Mackillop

(Green) – St Mary Mackillop

Lisieux

(Blue) – St Theresa of Lisieux

Siena

(Pink) – St Catherine of Siena

Sports

The physical education facilities consist of a fitness centre, a squash court, a gymnasium, turfed tennis and netball courts, and use of Steele Park.

School Sports days (Athletics and Swimming) are held outside of the school campus at facilities such as Porritt Stadium and Te Rapa Waterworld.

Major sports are practised outside class times, with games being played after school and in the weekends. Students have been selected as Waikato representatives in most sports.

An incomplete list of sports currently available include: inline hockey, aerobics, athletics, badminton, basketball, bowls, cricket, cycling, duathlon, equestrian, fitness centre, lacrosse, golf, gymnastics, hockey, kickboxing, netball, rowing, rugby, soccer, softball, squash, talent squad, tennis, touch rugby, triathlon, volleyball, waka ama and waterpolo.

See also

• List of schools in New Zealand

References

1. "New Zealand Schools Directory". New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
2. "Decile Change 2014 to 2015 for State & State Integrated Schools". Ministry of Education. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
3. Hope, Sharmae (3 November 2020). "Sacred Heart's $5 million new block rebuild closes chapter on fire". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 17 November 2020.

External links