Christchurch Boys' High School

State school, day and boarding school in Christchurch, New Zealand

Deans
Hadlee
Pomare
SuttonColour(s)Blue and Black SongThe School We MagnifySocio-economic decile10Z^[2]NewspaperBlue & Black NewsWebsitecbhs.school.nz

Christchurch Boys' High School, often referred to as CBHS, is a single sex state secondary school in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is situated on a 12-hectare (30-acre) site between the suburbs of Riccarton and Fendalton, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to the west of central Christchurch. The school also provides boarding facilities for 130 boys in a residence called Adams House located about 500 metres (1,600 ft) to the east. The school's colours are deep blue and black with an occasional flash of gold.

History

Established in 1881, the prime purpose of Christchurch Boys' High School was to prepare students for enrolment into the then newly formed Canterbury College, now known as the University of Canterbury.^[3] Consequently, it was initially co-located with the College in downtown Christchurch, at the site of the modern-day Christchurch Arts Centre. As the university and school expanded, the school moved to its present location on Straven Road in 1926.^[4] The school's present site was originally a farm owned by Canterbury's pioneer settlers, the Deans, and several buildings from the Deans' farm still stand on the grounds. The school's main building is registered by Heritage New Zealand as a Category I heritage building, with registration number 3658.^[5]

Christchurch Boys' High School has a rich sporting and academic history and boasts many traditions. The school has produced many All Blacks, with only Auckland Grammar School having produced more. The school can also lay claim to several famous cricketers. There is a unique ANZAC Day service each year that is compulsory for new students of the school to attend to commemorate the hundreds of Old Boys' that fought and died in the two World Wars. The school song 'Altiora Peto' has a third verse that is only heard on this day. In 2004 CBHS provided 2 of New Zealands 'top scholars', one of only 3 schools to do so with the other two both being girls-only schools in the Auckland region.^[6]

The school's dramatic and musical productions^[7] have collaborated with those of its sister school, Christchurch Girls' High School.

Notable alumni

Arts

Rewi Alley – writer, social reformer
Brian Brake – photographer
Allen Curnow – poet
Alan Duff – writer
Jason Gunn – radio and television personality
Sir David Low – cartoonist
Bill Sutton (1917–2000) – artist
Marlon Williams – musician
Niel Wright – poet and critic
James Lucas – writer, film director

Science

Glenn Wilson – psychologist
David J. Lockwood – physicist
Robert McLachlan – mathematician

Military

James Burrows – army commander (also an All Black)
Sir Leonard Monk Isitt – air force leader
Sir Howard Kippenberger – WWII army commander
Keith Thiele – WWII pilot
John Boswell ^[8] – Current Chief of the New Zealand Army

Public service

Arthur Dobbs – Director-General of Education 1971–1975

Politics

Bob Bell – former National MP for the Gisborne electorate^[9]
Max Bradford – Minister of Defence 1998, former Chief Executive of National Party, Member of Parliament for Tarawera and Rotorua New Zealand Parliament
Dr Donald Brash – Former leader of both the National Party, the ACT Party, and former Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
George Forbes – Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1930 to 1935, first leader of the National Party^[10]
Bruce Jesson – left-wing activist
Keith Locke – spokesperson on international affairs, defence and disarmament issues for the last decade (for NewLabour, the Alliance, and now the Green Party)
Sir Maui Pomare – Māori politician, doctor, reformer
Tony Steel – former All Black, Headmaster of Hamilton Boys' High School and Member of Parliament
David Caygill – former Minister of Finance (New Zealand) and Member of Parliament for St. Albans, in Christchurch (New Zealand).^[11]
Christopher Luxon – Prime Minister of New Zealand since 2023 and former CEO of Air New Zealand and Unilever Canada

Business

Charles Luney – builder and company director^[12]
Ian Athfield – architect

Sport

Christchurch Boys' High has one of the richest sporting alumni of any school in New Zealand, having produced the Hadlee brothers (cricket) and numerous All Black rugby footballers (46 in total)^[13]^{[better source needed]} who have gone on to represent New Zealand with great distinction.

Athletics

David Ambler – sprinter

Cricket

Geoff Allott – New Zealand Cricket Team
Corey Anderson – New Zealand Cricket Team
Robert Anderson – New Zealand Cricket Team
Todd Astle – New Zealand Cricket Team
Chris Cairns – New Zealand Cricket Team
Lee Germon – Captain New Zealand Cricket Team
Dayle Hadlee – New Zealand Cricket Team
Sir Richard Hadlee – New Zealand Cricket Team
Walter Hadlee – New Zealand Cricket Team
Blair Hartland – New Zealand Cricket Team
Llorne Howell – New Zealand Cricket Team
Tom Latham – New Zealand Cricket Team
Chris Martin – New Zealand Cricket Team
Neil Broom – New Zealand Cricket Team
Alex Ross (cricketer) – Australian Cricket Team

Cycling

Anton Cooper – Commonwealth Games gold medallist 2014, silver medallist 2018
Daniel Whitehouse – road cyclist^[14]

Football

Ben Sigmund – Wellington Phoenix Football Team

Futsal

Atta Elayyan

Hockey

Cameron Hayde – Black Sticks^[15]
George Enersen – Black Sticks
George Connell – Black Sticks
Willy Davidson – Black Sticks
Richard Bain – Black Sticks
Nick Haig – Black Sticks, Olympian^{[citation needed]}
Andrew Hastie – Black Sticks^{[citation needed]}
Selwyn Maister – Black Sticks, Olympic gold medallist 1976
Barry Maister – Black Sticks, Olympic gold medallist 1976
Chris Maister – Black Sticks, Olympic gold medallist 1976 ^{[citation needed]}
John Christensen – Black Sticks, Olympic gold medallist 1976^{[citation needed]}
Alan Patterson – NZ 3 times Olympian 1964, 1968, 1972. The last two as Captain

Lawn bowls

Gary Lawson – Black Jacks

Rowing

Jack Lopas – Men's Double Sculls 2020 Olympics
Alistair Bond – Men's Eight 2016 Olympics

Rugby union

Geoff Alley – All Black and National Librarian
Marty Banks – Highlanders (rugby union) player
Daniel Carter – All Black
John Creighton – All Black
Bob Deans – All Black
Ash Dixon – Māori All Blacks captain
Bob Duff – All Black captain, All Black coach and selector
Ben Franks – All Black
Owen Franks – All Black
Daryl Gibson – All Black
Scott Hamilton – All Black
Steve Hansen – All Blacks coach, Wales coach^{[citation needed]}
Sir Graham Henry – All Blacks coach, Wales coach
David Hewett – All Black
Fabian Holland - Highlanders
Andrew Horrell – Waikato Chiefs
Howard Joseph – All Black
Anton Lienert-Brown – All Black
Richard Loe – All Black
Aaron Mauger – All Black
Nathan Mauger – All Black
Fergie McCormick – All Black
Andrew Mehrtens – All Black
James Paterson – USA Eagle
Brodie Retallick – All Black
Luke Romano – All Black^{[citation needed]}
Colin Slade – All Black
Matt Todd – All Black
Adam Thomson – All Black
Patrick Vincent – All Black captain
Kosei Ono – Japan national rugby union team
Tony Steel – All Black
Nasi Manu – Tonga national rugby union team
Rodney Ah You – Ireland national rugby union team
Will Jordan – All Black

Rallying

Jeff Judd – 2009 Pirelli Star Co-Driver, 2011 PWRC Competitor, 2010 Silver Fern Rally Winner^[16]

Snowsports

Jamie Prebble – Ski Cross silver medallist at the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships 2017, competed in Ski Cross at the 2018 Winter Olympics
Carlos Garcia Knight – Competed in snowboard Slopestyle and Big Air at the 2018 Winter Olympics

Speedway

Ivan Mauger, OBE, MBE – Six time Speedway World Champion

Squash

Paul Coll – Current Squash World #1

MMA

Brad Riddell (fighter) – UFC Lightweight

References

^ "New Zealand Schools Directory". New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
^ "Decile Change 2014 to 2015 for State & State Integrated Schools". Ministry of Education. 29 November 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
^ Cresswell, Douglas (1956). Eight Christchurch Schools. Christchurch: The Pegasus Press. p. 5. As quoted in Mercurio, Joseph A. (1972), Caning: Educational Ritual (PDF), Syracuse University, p. 6, archived from the original (PDF) on 13 October 2012
^ CBHS 2004 Prospectus Archived 2004-05-06 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Christchurch Boys' High School (Main Block)". New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero. Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 29 November 2015.
^ CBHS. "Top Scholars Announced". Retrieved 11 July 2006. ^{[dead link]}
^ On Chunuk Bair. p7: The Christchurch Press. 27 August 2002.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
^ "Major General John Boswell".
^ Gustafson 1986, p. 299.
^ Gustafson 1986, p. 311.
^ "David Francis Caygill". Christchurch Boys' High School. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
^ "Charles Seymour Luney (Chas), QSO, CNZM 1905–2006". Christchurch City Libraries. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
^ "Student Achievements – Christchurch Boys High School".
^ "Daniel Whitehouse". ipc-sport. Archived from the original on 11 July 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
^ "New Zealand Hockey Representatives – Men". Hockey New Zealand. 31 March 2020.
^ Whitten, Peter (4 October 2017). "Interview: NZ rally legend Jeff Judd". RallySport Magazine.