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Our School: History

Henley School was opened by Mr Tennant, the then Minister of Education, on 28 November 1962. The roll at the time was 192 and there were six classrooms. Mr W S Burnside (1962 - 67) was the first Principal and, through his leadership, the school built a fine reputation in the district. The second Principal, Mr N M Brownlie, continued this fine work and during his time (1968 - 83) was largely responsible for the many ground improvements. His successor, Mr N Moore, retired from the position in December 1990.

Henley School is named after a public vote, from names suggested through a “name the school” competition. The name Henley which was selected, proved most appropriate as the contributing area was first named “Henley” by one of the early settlers who came from Henley on Thames, England.

There was a steady growth in the population and the school roll peaked at 521 in December 1979. Then the roll, in line with the national trend, declined, as seen by the 1986 December roll of 398. Since that year however, with many new housing areas being developed near Henley, the roll has risen to 657 at the end of 2008.

The school has 24 classrooms, (nine having been built in the last few years) with 23 class teachers. In addition, the school boasts an excellent Library as well as a fully carpeted all-purpose room provided by the community. In October 2000, the Minister of Education, Trevor Mallard, opened our school hall, which has the capacity to seat 600 children, and includes a carpeted meeting room, kitchen and a “group work” room.

During 2004, the Prime Minister, Helen Clark, opened our new Learning Centre which includes a library, Computer Suite and a central resource area.

Henley is privileged to have spacious landscaped grounds including a large hardcourt area, and three adventure playgrounds.  These grounds are a community asset and are available for general use during out of school hours.

Henley School, Henley Kindergarten, Waimea Intermediate and Waimea College make up a unique educational complex that is sited on an extensive area of unfenced land. All schools co-operate to share facilities.
 

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