Napier Girls' High School

A message from our Hostel Manager

Hewett House Hostel sits proudly on Napier Hill and prides itself in providing a safe and happy boarding experience for your daughter to further her education and gain valuable life skills for her future.

There is a sense of belonging in our Hostel, where girls from a variety of different backgrounds come together to share their schooling experiences and learn to live together in harmony.

We expect our boarders to respect the staff and all Hostel facilities and develop their own sense of self worth and independence to lead productive lives in the community.

The Hostel supports academic learning, conducting a supervised Prep Programme for girls, providing support from a dedicated liaison teacher and having computer suites for study and completion of homework.

We offer the opportunity for girls to participate in a wide range of sporting, cultural and service activities offered by Napier Girls' High School, and encourage girls to be the best that they can be.

The Hostel is a warm, caring and safe home where, around the clock, your daughters are nurtured by a team of experienced supervisors and support staff.The Hostel operates a full commercial kitchen which provides tasty nutritional meals for the girls from breakfast through to supper.

Routines and rules are clearly outlined, and there is an expectation on the girls to behave appropriately to ensure their safety and well being in the Hostel.

The years spent in the Hostel will teach your daughter to be confident in her own abilities, to be a leader and to have tolerance and empathy for the people around her. Your daughter will leave the Hostel with life long friendships and equipped with the skills to take on the challenges of adult life.

Hewett House

Hewett House provides accommodation for 175 girls, both five-day and seven-day stay.
The girls sleep in double cubicles or dormitories and some have single rooms. Matthews House opened in 1988 and contains single cubicles for senior girls. The buildings on Napier’s hill are ideally situated in one of the most attractive parts of the city. The girls live adjacent to the school and may use the school’s sports facilities, library and computer suite.

History

Boarding began at Napier Girls’ High School in 1884 with one boarder, Jane Dillon, and grew to 17 in 1905.

Hewett House was then known as the House and by 1925 had 70 girls in residence.

In 1931 the earthquake wrecked most of the boarding accommodation. The girls and staff had to set up a temporary camp under canvas until parents could finally arrive to collect their girls, or girls could be safely transported home.

Clyde House reopened after three months enabling some boarders to return to school.

A new hostel was built and opened in October 1940 and in 1961 was expanded to include B wing, the recreation room, five music cubicles and the laundry. The new building was named Hewett House, after the first Headmistress of the school Miss M. Hewett.

In 1971 the purchase of a nearby property provided land for the building of Matthews House which was opened in 1988. In 1978 the High School Board decided to allow girls at Hewett House as five day boarders going home each weekend, the roll grew to 140 boarders.

In 1984 Hewett House celebrated its centenary with a full quota of boarders, an excellent reputation, a caring environment and with the affection and good wishes from all the former boarders.

Today our staff and boarders embrace the traditions and history of Hewett House. Continual modernisation of facilities, while containing the existing architecture, has bought Hewett House into present day. A forward-thinking vision driven by traditional values will continue to see Hewett House grow and flourish into the future.