Southland Boys' High School

Southland Boys' High School (SBHS) is an all-boys school in Invercargill, New Zealand, and has been the only one in the city since Marist Brothers was merged with St Catherines to form Verdon College in 1982.

History

SBHS was founded in 1881 and, in 1926, the original brick building was opened on the present Herbert St site. This building is called the Pearce Block in memory of Mr T. Pearce who was rector from around 1904 to 1929. Subsequent buildings were named after George Uttley, Malcolm Leadbetter, Don Grant and Laurie Cornwell. The gymnasium was named after Jim Page.

Southland Boys High School

The west end of the Pearce Block suffered a fire during Easter 1980 which was well recorded in the 1980 year book "The Southlandian". The fire extensively damaged three class rooms on the upper floor whilst the Rector's, DP's and Senior Master's offices on the ground floor were water damaged (in the right hand side of the photo).

The school co-hosted the 2006 State Twenty20 Cricket Knock-Out Tournament in Invercargill.

Notable alumni

Well-known former students include Jeremy Waldron, who attended the school until 1970 and is now a prominent legal and political philosopher in the United States, and Andrew White, who played rugby for the All Blacks in the 1920s. Back in the early 1980s there were several rows of framed photos in the downstairs corridor of the Grant Block of Old Boys who had gone on to represent New Zealand at rugby or cricket. The Leadbetter Wing also had framed photos of the First 15 rugby team dating back to around 1913. Other notable All Blacks are 100 test veteran Malili (Mils) Muliaina, former captain Paul Henderson, props Jamie Mackintosh, and Clarke Dermody. The school also has a proud tradition in providing New Zealand schoolboys Rugby representatives. Recent names include Robbie Robinson (rugby player), John Hardie and Scott Eade.

Outside of the sports scene, George Mason has made a name for himself in the television industry with re-occurring roles in hit TV programs such as Shortland Street, Go Girls, and most recently Home and Away (Australian soap).

Houses

Houses at Southland Boys High School are named after past Rectors of the school, minus Coldstream House.The Houses compete in Sports Days, Cultural Competitions, Swimming Competitions, Drama Productions, Fundraising Events among other activities.

• Coldstream House is represented by the colour Orange and is consistently the largest of the houses due to all boarding pupils being immediate entrances of the house. Coldstream are strong performers at Sports Days due to the large numbers, and had a recent 32 year win streak ended only in 2009.
• Deaker House is represented by the colour Red. Deaker are often competitive in all events and often finish in the high rankings in most events.
• Grant House is represented by the colour Green. Grant House are a smaller house but very cultural and passionate. Grant House exceed especially in the cultural events, and are often very strong in Championship Sports Day where the houses compete against each other rather than themselves.
• Uttley House is represented by the colour Blue. Uttley have traditionally been a rather small house who often struggle to win many events. Much like Deaker House, Uttley are ever present in every event, but do not seem to win a lot.
• Pearce House is represented by the colour Black. Pearce are a rather small house traditionally, and often struggle for results in any event due to small numbers. Pearce are one of the most common winners, along with Grant House, for the relay cup.

Former rectors

Former rectors of the school include:

• Mr Blanchflower (1881 - c. 1885)
• Mr Highton (??)
• Mr Fowler (?? - c. 1904)
• Mr T.Pearce (1904 - 1929)
• Dr George Uttley (1930 - 1946)
• Mr Malcolm Leadbetter (1947 - 1950)
• Mr Don Grant (1950 - 1963)
• Mr Laurie Cornwell (1963 - 1981)
• Mr Jack Alabaster (1981 - 1988)
• Mr Rowly Currie (1989 - 1999)
• Mr Ian Baldwin (2000 - Present)

Notes