Palmerston North Boys' High School is a secondary day and boarding school for boys founded in 1902. It is located in Palmerston North, New Zealand.
Contents
Location
Palmerston North Boys' High School has a campus located on Featherston Street between Rangitikei and North Streets in the central city. There are secondary entrances to the school on Wellesbourne Street, Ivanhoe Terrace, Edgeware Road and North Street. The rear boundary is shared with Queen Elizabeth College.
Students and school culture
Most of the school's approximately 1,700 students are "day boys" from Palmerston North and surrounding townships such as Ashhurst, Levin, and Feilding. Around 180 boys are housed in an onsite boarding hostel – College House (also known as 'Murray House,' after former Rector John Murray; his former home is part of the hostel).
As of July 2026, Palmerston North Boys' High School has a roll of 1,821 students, of which 443 (24.3%) identify as Māori.
As of 2026, the school has an Equity Index of 441, placing it amongst schools whose students have below average socioeconomic barriers to achievement (roughly equivalent to decile 7 under the former socio-economic decile system).
History and controversy
In 1902, Palmerston North High School was established by Scottish Presbyterian elders as a co-educational secondary school with an initial roll of 84 students (40 boys and 44 girls). The first classes were held at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church Sunday School hall. In 1920, Palmerston North High School was split into two single-sex schools: Palmerston North Girls' High School and Palmerston North Boys' High School.
In a 1990 case, M & R v Syms and the Board of Trustees of Palmerston North Boys High School [2003] NZAR 705, the plaintiffs challenged the steps taken by the rector in suspending both students for consumption of alcohol, and later by the board expelling M. McGechan J gave judgment for the plaintiffs holding that the rector's discretion as to whether to suspend the pupils "is not to be ignored, as if non-existent. Nor is it to be fettered by a principal through self-imposed rules permitting no exceptions". The judge further found that the board did not exercise its mind on the ultimate discretion whether or not to uplift suspension or procure removal.
In September 2006 the school had an outbreak of tuberculosis in which a substantial number of students contracted a latent form of tuberculosis, as well as a small number of students who had active tuberculosis. There was a second, smaller outbreak in 2010.
The then-rector, Tim O'Connor, was awarded a Woolf Fisher Fellowship and the Sir Peter Blake Leadership Award in 2007.
In August 2017 the school was hit with media attention as a year 12 student was denied access to the ball as he did not have a partner to go with.
Rectors
The school has had ten rectors since 1902:
Facilities
The school has the following facilities:
These include:
Library
ICT computer suites
Specialised technology/workshop block
College House – Boarding facilities for approximately 180 students
War Memorial Gallery and archive room
The school has 12 main teaching blocks.
College House
College House is a boarding facility for approximately 180 students
College House provides seven day boarding for students that attend Palmerston North Boys' High School. Seven day boarding means that students can remain in the hostel during the weekends. Parents apply for weekend leave to allow their sons to go home in any given weekend.
Cultural
Ian Colquhoun Memorial Hall – 1700-seat auditorium
The Speirs Centre
Recording facilities
Rehearsal rooms
David A. Syms Auditorium – 400-seat theatre
Little Theatre – 80-seat theatre
Sporting
Two multiuse gymnasiums
Full-sized basketball court
Weights room
Heated indoor swimming pool
Two rugby fields
Football field
Three artificial cricket wickets and a grass wicket
Cricket training nets
Astroturf all-weather tennis and hockey courts
Two sports pavilions
Grandstand
Clubs
Palmerston North Boys' High School is divided into six 'clubs'. On enrolment students are placed in a club at random, or into a house with a family tie. Staff are also placed in clubs, with the exception of the Rector.
The clubs names and colours are as follows:
Murray Club, also known as College House, is composed of the school's boarding students.
The Clubs compete in sports and codes, including team sports, individual sports, and whole club activities, such as Road-Race and Marching competitions. For each code the clubs are ranked first to last, with the winning club gaining one point, and the loser gaining six. The club with the fewest points at the end of the school year wins the Shand Shield.
Sports
The school has experienced success nationally in sports such as football, cycling, badminton, squash, basketball, hockey and rugby.
The rugby union 1st XV plays in an all-white strip. Other rugby teams from Boys' High are likely to play in blue and white hooped jerseys, similar to Auckland or St Kentigern College.