HOUSE SYSTEM

“The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.” - Ralph Waldo


Every student at Havelock North High School belongs to one of the four houses. All students are allocated their form class and house on the first day of school and siblings are placed in the same house.

Four Houses

The four houses are Kauri (blue), Miro (orange), Tainui (yellow) and Rātā (red).

Form classes operate on a vertical system where each class contains several students from every year level. Over time the Year 9 students move through the school and become the leaders in each form class. The vertical form system helps students to develop the sense of belonging that is a vital part of Havelock North High School.  It also ensures that the House System is passed on to each new cohort of students. Much of the organisation of the school is centred around the House System. House assemblies are organised fortnightly by the Head of House and school-wide activities such as the athletics sports, swimming sports, inter-house kapa haka, theatresports, operate as inter-house competitions.

The focus of the house activities throughout the year is the Patu competition. The HNHS Patu was presented to the school by the Chambers family when the four houses were established. In today's world the Patu symbolises the facing and overcoming of life's challenges and difficulties. The key factor in the Patu competition is participation. The house that has the best participation in each event usually triumphs as the winner.