Our School

Kia whakaako i ngaa rangatahi kia manako, kia ngaakaunui mai to haapori.

To educate and develop young people of whom our community will be proud.

The educational needs and abilities of our students are also reflected in our curriculum as we seek to provide opportunities for our students to engage in meaningful learning pathways to attain the qualifications, skills, and competencies they require that will prepare them for life beyond school. As well as the classroom, our students are provided with an extensive range of activities involving Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC), sport, the Arts, performance, and culture as well as numerous leadership and community-based activities. These opportunities make a significant contribution to our school and in doing so add pride and school spirit, which are all essential in a successful school.

Academic Excellence

Although academic achievement is the cornerstone of the school, student achievement can take various forms. Some students strive at the highest level to attain excellence endorsements in NCEA and Level 4 Scholarship. These same students are often striving to gain entry to University and gaining University Scholarships. Other students are looking at different pathways into work, apprenticeships, other Tertiary providers, or a combination of the above. Whatever their aspirations are our role is to provide a successful pathway for each of our students so they can leave school with the academic attainment, skills, abilities and attitudes to be successful beyond school.

Approximately half of our students consistently gain endorsements in NCEA while a significant number consistently gain Scholarship Awards. We want our students to gain an NCEA qualification that is fit for purpose and can successfully lead them to their next level of learning, preferably into a Level 4 tertiary qualification. The school offers a broad range of NCEA subjects that cater for our diverse student body. These include specific programmes to assist those students to gain their NCEA literacy and numeracy requirements. Cambridge AS level is offered at Year 12 in English and Mathematics and senior computer programming students are able to enter for the University of Waikato Computer Science Scholarships. At Year 13 selected students are also able to study University-based papers.

A number of our senior students participate in our vast array of Vocational Pathways programmes. These programmes include Gateway and STAR courses that provide students with work-based opportunities while still continuing to study at school. Our Secondary Tertiary Partnership Programme, better known as our Trades Academy Programme with Wintec, now provides trades based programmes for over 100 senior students who see a trade as their likely destination.

International Appeal

Hillcrest High School has embraced the international flavour of our diverse student population. We have approximately 55 international fee-paying students, and a number of exchange students enrol at Hillcrest each year. A specifically built International Centre provides classrooms, reception and offices for our International and ESOL Departments. A number of activities including camps, trips and the annual international concert are held regularly to celebrate, recognise and provide experiences for our international students.