St Paul's Collegiate in Hamilton. Photo: Supplied
A prestigious private secondary school in Hamilton has announced it will admit junior girls from 2026 for the first time in its 65-year history.
St Paul's Collegiate School began as an all-boys' school in 1959 before admitting female students into the then sixth and seventh forms in 1985.
These days the Anglican boarding school allows girls to attend from Year 11 (fifth form) but from 2026 it will begin admitting Year 9 girls, who will go on to become the first Year 10 female students at the school in 2027.
Headmaster Ben Skeen said there had already been a number of enrolments for the first cohort of 72 girls.
Many were the siblings of boys and older girls already at the school and others were from outside the school community.
"It represents a reflection of the demand - our community have been asking for a long time for this to be considered."
Skeen said the school was proud of its education offering and firmly believed it should be available to both boys and girls across all five years.
The girls and boys would be taught in single-sex classes until Year 11 and it also meant changes were in store for the famed Tihoi Venture School, undertaken by all Year 10 students.
At present the 18-week trip is only available to boys through two intakes per year because it takes place in Year 10.
The outdoor education programme is unique to St Paul's, partly because of the length of the programme, and involves three days a week doing adventure activities such as caving, rock-climbing, kayaking and more.
The other four days is spent in the Tihoi Venture School campus centre living in a house structure with competitions as well as learning English, maths, science and social studies.
However, Skeen said to accommodate girls in Year 10, the trip would be reduced to 12 weeks from 2027.
This would enable two boys' intakes and one girls' so that the groups remained single sex.
Skeen said to enable this to work, the classroom learning would be removed and conducted back at the Hamilton campus on their return.
The move to admit girls at Year 9 puts St Paul's in direct competition with two other prestigious Anglican boarding schools in the Waikato, the private St Peter's School Cambridge, and state-integrated Waikato Diocesan School for Girls in Hamilton.
Skeen said St Paul's discussed the decision with St Peter's and Waikato Dio before announcing the move on Friday.
It would take the school from 860 students to around 1000 in 2027.
Daniel Vettori Photo: PHOTOSPORT
The annual fees for next year for all students except Year 10 and without discount for early payment were $29,590 for day students including lunches, and $46,140 for boarders.
Year 10 paid more for the Tihoi trip taking it to just over $40,000, or $48,370 for boarders.
One of the first girls to attend St Paul's in 1985 was West End actress, singer and dancer Roimata Templeton.
Another famous alumni is New Zealand cricketer Daniel Vettori.
Skeen said the change was an evolution and attempted to keep the best of a St Paul's education for young men while offering it to young women.
He said current students were supportive of younger sisters and peers joining the school and getting the same experiences, particularly once they realised outdoor activities would remain the core of the Tihoi Venture School.
