The boarding house is an integral part of our school community and we strive to make it as homely as possible. Our dedicated staff are committed to providing a welcoming, safe and well-organised boarding experience within a warm, nurturing environment. Our aim is to make the transition between school and home as smooth as possible for your son.

This page should answer many of your questions, but please don’t hesitate to contact our Director of Boarding, Ian Scott, at boarding@hereworth.school.nz if you have any queries.

Daily Routine

Morning

6.45am: Wake up (shower)

7.25am: Breakfast

8.10am: School starts

Afternoon/evening

3.00pm: School ends

3.00pm: Afternoon tea

3.15pm: Sport/after school activities/Free time

4.15pm: Tuck

4.45-5.30pm: Prep (summer terms) / Free time (winter terms)

5.45pm: Dinner

6.30pm: Prep (winter terms) / Free time (summer terms)

8.00pm: TV time/ read/ Dorm time

8.20pm: Bed

8.30pm: Lights out

Gear List

In addition to their school uniform and sports kit, boarders need casual clothes, toiletries and bedding for their dorms. Please download the gear list to see our essential packing list.

Phone

As part of our commitment to student wellbeing, smartphones have been being phased out in the boarding house since 2025.

Research, both here and internationally, shows that being in the online world is becoming increasingly more difficult for children to manage. Expectations for online behaviour require mature decision making that younger people may not yet possess and making mistakes online can have significant and long-term consequences. We are seeing evidence of this in the increasing amount of time that our staff are having to devote to dealing with inappropriate usage and damaging online behaviour.

Every student joining the boarding house is below the age restriction for access to social media platforms such as Discord, Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram and Whatsapp. The minimum age for each of these apps is 13 and this is set for the very reason that younger users are not likely to have the maturity to always manage their usage appropriately.

We understand that making mistakes and learning to navigate the online world are a part of learning and development. We can manage students’ devices and usage while they are on the school’s wifi network, but have no ability to monitor or manage usage via mobile data.

All new boarders will joining us in 2026 will therefore need an alternative to a smartphone to keep in touch with his family and friends via text messages and calls whilst at school. We recommend a non-smart phone like the MobiWire Hinto, TCL OneTouch, Alcatel Flip or MobiWire Ogima.

Weekly Boarders

Weekly boarders have the option to go home at the end of the school day on Friday or to stay until after sports on Saturday. They can then return to school on either on Sunday night by 7.30pm or Monday morning by 8.20am.

For both catering and security purposes, you must advise the boarding house staff of your son’s plans by Wednesday evening at the latest. The Director of Boarding will email a weekly reminder home.

Boarders Buses

Tranzit provide a weekly bus service for all the boarding schools in Hawke’s Bay. The service currently operates to and from Gisborne, Dannevirke/Waipukurau and Taupo.  For all the details please visit their website by clicking HERE.