In 2026, St Paul’s Collegiate School welcomed enrolled Year 9 girls as part of the school.
1. Why is St Paul’s introducing girls into the junior school?
The St Paul’s Collegiate School Board (the Waikato Anglican College Trust) is proud of the provision of educational experiences it offers. Across both its Hamilton and Tihoi Venture School campuses, the School is committed to delivering learning opportunities that are focused on developing the character of each young person, in environments that are engaging, challenging and supportive. The Board believe these experiences should be available to both boys and girls.
2. How will classes be structured in Years 9 and 10?
Boys and girls will be taught in single-sex classroom environments in both Year 9 and Year 10. This approach provides our teaching staff with the opportunity to design courses and content specific to the group they have in front of them. For example, a Year 9 boys’ English class may be studying a different text to a Year 9 girls’ English class who are learning in an adjacent teaching space.
3. How will the Year 9 and 10 classes be organised?
The Board is committed to continuing to deliver on an average class size of 20 or less. The School will continue to stream classes in Years 9 and 10 to allow for the benefits of effective differentiated learning.
4. What will be the size of the Junior School (Years 9 and 10)?
There will be no change to the number of boys enrolled in the Junior School. In 2026, 72 girls joined Year 9. These 72 students will progress to being the first cohort of Year 10 female students at St Paul’s in 2027.
5. How will this introduction affect the Tihoi Venture School experience?
From 2027, Tihoi will operate differently, offering three intakes across each year (instead of the current two intake model).
Year 10 boys will be separated into two intakes, each comprising of the existing 72-student capacity. Their experience will occur over a 12-week period, with a programme heavily orientated towards outdoor educational activities. A significant volume of academic classroom teaching currently delivered on the Tihoi campus (across the current 18-week Tihoi in-campus programme) will be reassigned to the teaching staff on the Hamilton campus.
Year 10 girls will experience an independently designed girls’ outdoor education experience, scheduled across a 12-week window, consisting of 72 female students. The nature of this programme will be, led by outdoor instructor experts, educationalists, and an advisory group of former Tihoi Directors.
6. What is the history of girls at St Paul’s?
In 1985 St Paul’s introduced female students in Years 12 and 13. Year 11 female students have been enrolled since 2010. Females currently comprise almost 40% of the Year 11-13 Senior School cohort.
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