Henderson High School

my other son joined and he loves it

False advertising. This school will support bullying and will suspend the victim. Don’t expect any credibly support from the principal. They’re delusional. After suspending victims, they expect them to return to a school that won’t protect them. Safety is not at the forefront of this schools standards. Don’t bother sending your children here. They won’t be protected from bullies.

Henderson could definitely be worse, but it could be a whole lot better.

The good things I have to say is I have made some amazing friends at HHS, and a lot of the teachers are good teachers and/or cool people overall.
The way the school day is set up is also useful, having form time to start of the day gets you settled in and makes it less likely for you to miss class time.

However there are still many negatives
.
To start off the Senior Management team is nothing short of discriminatory, LGBTQ+ students are treated extremely unfairly or if they're lucky they're simply ignored. Same sex couples at the school are told off for showing any form of physical affection while straight couples can basically do whatever they like with little to no consequence.
People of colour at our school are treated as tokens or as tools to seem inclusive and diverse but are treated very differently than their white peers any other time.
And neurodivergent students who aren't part of the "Supported Learning" class are given little to no support or accommodations, especially so if they aren't officially diagnosed, and they are often expected to learn in the same conditions as neurotypical students.

On top of that the uniform is incredibly uncomfortable both in the fact it's itchy and feels terrible to wear and in that is designed badly, especially if you're a AFAB student. The neckline on the girls polo shirt is a weird mess, the skirts are an awkward length and are made that way to cover our knees as to not "distract male students and staff" because knees are attractive? And even in year 13 both the girls and the boys shirts are completely see through so even in summer we all have to wear multiple layers as to not flash anyone, which is absolutely ridiculous, because obviously knees are distracting but nipples are totally acceptable. And yes, this has been brought up to try change, with no success, in fact we were told it was on purpose, for some weird confusing reason I can't remember.

Then there's the learning and classes itself. Although there are some great teachers there are also some bad ones, often that the school refuses to get rid of despite the fact that students in those classes are having to teach themselves because the teacher is useless. Timetables are set up in a very flawed way making it so many people miss out on important subjects and often they are unable to change.

Finally, other smaller things.
There is no shelter for lunchtimes and it often takes a full storm for teachers to consider opening classrooms.
The tuck shop food has not been very good since the menu change and is overpriced so not worth it at all in my opinion. Which is unfortunate seeing as it's the only avaliable food at the school.
We aren't allowed to be out of the classroom for the bathroom for more than 5 minutes so if you're not actually doing anything bad it's extremely inconvenient. We're told to go at break times but that is near impossible because they are always full of students vaping. Also the taps are always broken and leaky.
The school is harsh on all the wrong things, such as punctuality, uniform and use of headphones, and handles things such as bullying and harassment with little effectiveness.
The school spends its money on all the wrong things, they can't afford any form of shelter but they can afford to move stairs and throw concerts and expo days that are often pretty rubbish.
Finally more of a silly thing, but our principals speeches rely on cringy clichés and analogies which are often not as related as she thinks, such as Michelangelo painting that ceiling as a way of saying that we should be resilient, however Michelangelo was imprisoned by the church and many times tried to escape or kill himself to give up, so not exactly the best story to use.

Overall even though HHS isn't the worst school on the planet, I have had many friends leave or consider leaving because of how terribly the school handles certain things especially the wellbeing of its students.
So if you're reading this to consider it as an option, perhaps look at other schools first.
After 4 years here going into my 5th, the only reason I stay is friends and the price of a new uniform.
If you want to pick a high school based on how it treats it's students, don't pick Henderson.

Sorry for the long rant.

Overall the school in my perspective is not too bad but also not great which is why I rated it 3 stars. Some of their teachers are amazing and some aren't nearly as good. They have some that are really interested in their subject and good at passing on that knowledge in a fun way. While others just drone on to the point where everyone in the class is bored out of their minds. As well as the attitude of the students which really puts a damper on the otherwise ok school. Everyday day in classes you hear words thrown around that really shouldn't be said. But it is possible to just ignore it all thankfully.

this school has shown me a pretty bad time, things are terribly organized, there are odd rules and when students have problems with teachers and bring it up to deans or something the student in the wrong, I marking is slow and some of the teachers are unhelpful or don't actually know how to teach their subject's. shelter is lacking and there are many other problems

Another problem is that the school wastes their money so much on random useless unnecessary products, such as recently over lockdown they spent a lot of money on useless modifications. For example in the food room stairs were removed from the left side and then put into the middle, which provides no benefit at all.

as a student form this school, i can say that the staff needs an improvement. a large majority of the teachers there either don’t care about teaching the kids or don’t want to be there. there are a few that do look like they genuinely enjoy being there, this is usually the younger female teachers. the school has a very limited variety to what classes you can take and only offers maori if you want to learn a different language. the school does not handle bullying well and if you complain about it, senior management will metaphorically laugh in your face and do nothing about it. the school lacks a good support system, if you’re struggling they’ll most likely push it away. the uniform is ugly and the staff complains when the girls shorten their skirts, even though they’re an awkward length. personally, i have been told to lengthen my skirt even though it is sitting right above my knee, no thigh being shown. half the teachers are also incredibly racist and/or homophobic. i really do not recommend. go to green bay or avondale instead.

Starting with the negatives, I'm in my last year of school and Henderson High has not been the best. They spend their money on unnecessary things like new sports uniforms every year instead of shelter for students when it rains, better learning equipment, etc. Half of the teachers are good but half of them can't teach or are old and grumpy and should have retired many moons ago. There is no school spirit, or sense of community for a lot of us students. Henderson High is very bad at organising events in terms of time (always last minute) and the events are not usually very exciting. We only have 2 school events throughout the entire year (athletics and swimming sports). Mufti days aren't allowed, the uniform is ugly and not that comfortable especially for girls. They don't have any other languages on offer to learn except for Te Reo so if you're looking to learn other languages, Henderson isn't it.

As for the positives, there a couple of good teachers that have made my time at high school bearable, and it's small (about 1000) so if you want less people then it's good (although everyone knows everyone and information spreads quickly). They are really into their hockey and have a range of sports available, they have a few groups around the school in various areas and offer some okay subjects. Senior management are pretty decent people, the ball is okay. Henderson isn't the best but it's got the basics.

Overall I wouldn't recommend attending Henderson, and I think a lot of students would agree with me. But ultimately if you think it's the right choice then by no means, go ahead.