Parents home in on strict school

By AINSLEY THOMSON

Cambridge High School is being inundated with students from around the Waikato keen to attend the school with the perfect NCEA record.

This week an extra 200 students will start at the college, boosting the roll from 1000 pupils last year to about 1200.

For the second year in a row, the Waikato school says it achieved a 100 per cent student pass rate in NCEA level one, and also achieved 100 per cent in NCEA level two, which was held for the first time last year.

Principal Alison Annan is quick to point out that the 100 per cent pass rate was from 100 per cent of students enrolled. "We're not one of those schools that is hiding our failures," she said.

The school's academic success and its reputation for strict discipline have caught the attention of parents who are opting to send their children to the school.

Teenagers from Hamilton, Putaruru, Tirau, Te Awamutu and Matamata are making the sometimes lengthy daily trip so they can attend the school.

Mrs Annan said that when she took over the role of principal in 1992 only 62 per cent of secondary school aged students living in Cambridge attended it.

In that year the school was second to bottom of the qualifications league tables and, as assistant principal Martin Blackburn puts it, was the champion of having the highest number of students leaving school with no qualification.

Now around 96 per cent of Cambridge's students attend the school.

"Not only have we stopped the drift out," said Mrs Annan, "but it has also been reversed."

Cambridge High's tough disciplinary policy has often seen it make headlines for the wrong reasons.

A 15-year-old student was stood down for five days in 2002 for writing the controversial "boner" essay and the school has also been criticised for suspending students for drug use.

However, the tough discipline is one of the things that is attracting parents to the school.

Putaruru mother Kathy Hockly sent her son Darryl, 16, to the school three years ago after looking at a number of schools in the region.

In addition to the wide range of subjects on offer, what she appreciates is that Darryl feels safe there because of the discipline.

The sentiment that Cambridge High is a safe school is shared by Cambridge mother Karen Holdaway, who sends three of her children to the school.

Ms Holdaway said that four years ago she was reluctant to send her eldest daughter Jay Hopper, 16, to the school because it still had a bad reputation. Her opinion changed after she witnessed the level of support the students received.

The influx in students does bring its own problems.

Mrs Annan said there was no zoning, so students were free to attend no matter where they lived.

Students were encouraged to go to their local schools, but often parents were determined their child should attend Cambridge High.

In March the school will start building a 13-classroom block.

But Mrs Annan said the school had to convince the Ministry of Education that it needed extra funding.

Cambridge High

* Ranked second in New Zealand for its combined qualification results (NCEA level one, Sixth Form certificate, Bursary and Scholarship) for 2002 - the only public co-ed school to make it into the top 10.

* Attracts pupils from throughout the Waikato.

* Was once known as 'Cannabis High' but parents now say the school has a firm approach to discipline.