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Southland Girls' High School
High School · State · Invercargill
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This School Was Traumatizing for me
Hey yea don't send your kids here, they kick students out that they dont think will pass just so it doesn't affect their overall school passing score, and some teachers WILL be completely rude towards you, most of the girls are racist and homophobic as are teachers, which you will be relentlessly bullied by both as well, there is only ONE good teacher there and he deserves better <3
Best School 🍓
This school is so Amazing the teachers are so good with us girls and are always there for us when we need someone to talk to.They make everyone feel warm and welcoming.And we know we can talk to them about everything . The uniform is not as bad as people say it is it looks lovely and tidy and is comfortable and the red shoes are unique and that’s not a bad thing they add something to our school that know one else has.They have a wide variety of subjects and out of school activities and that’s just some reasons you should come to SGHS 🍓🍓
Too old fashioned
The school has too many strict rules and some teachers will hand out punishments over the smallest things.
If you talk in assemblies, if the staff can’t pinpoint who did they will give a warning in the general area, if they can identify who did it they will humiliate those involved by making them stand up from their seats and they have to remain standing for the entire assembly time and not be allowed to sit back down. Even if the student is whispering quietly during assembly they also have to stand up which isn’t fair. Like instead of embarrassing us for a minor interaction, tell us privately AFTERWARDS.
If you talk in assemblies, if the staff can’t pinpoint who did they will give a warning in the general area, if they can identify who did it they will humiliate those involved by making them stand up from their seats and they have to remain standing for the entire assembly time and not be allowed to sit back down. Even if the student is whispering quietly during assembly they also have to stand up which isn’t fair. Like instead of embarrassing us for a minor interaction, tell us privately AFTERWARDS.
F SGHS
Unwelcoming school, teachers are rude. Canteen has good food though but only healthy food options and overpriced anyway.
Ncea
The lies
The learning experience isn't bad but it's fake inclusive and the councilors don't know how to do their jobs well and accuse students of sh when not.
Just don't ever come here or hesitate...
I've never attended a worse institution than this one.Â
Absolutely not one bracelet is allowed.
Moreover, if a teacher notices even a singl
 tiny bracelet. To remove it, they make a great deal out of it. Wintertime at the school is even worse. We are forced to study in cold conditions and are forced to remove our jackets despite the fact that the classroom heaters are never turned on.Literally the worst bitches I've ever seen are the females in this.Everyone I encountered was only concerned with their appearance, but none of them have ever accepted me or tried to be friends with me or work
Because I have a natural face and am Asian, they all give me a disgusting expression. This institution, which I hate, makes me feel unwelcome by many. Anf so racist. Never visit here because it is so prejudiced.
Absolutely not one bracelet is allowed.
Moreover, if a teacher notices even a singl
 tiny bracelet. To remove it, they make a great deal out of it. Wintertime at the school is even worse. We are forced to study in cold conditions and are forced to remove our jackets despite the fact that the classroom heaters are never turned on.Literally the worst bitches I've ever seen are the females in this.Everyone I encountered was only concerned with their appearance, but none of them have ever accepted me or tried to be friends with me or work
Because I have a natural face and am Asian, they all give me a disgusting expression. This institution, which I hate, makes me feel unwelcome by many. Anf so racist. Never visit here because it is so prejudiced.
School students and teachers were quite bad when I went there
I went here in year 7 (2016). But oh boy did I have an experience coming here.
The most distinct thing I remember was the "lesbian pit" at the school. We had a pit with a statue in the middle of one of the courtyards, and if two girls went in there together they would be bullied and claimed as "lesbians". I'm unsure if this rumor is still around, but it really showed how much students were against the LGBTQIA+ community. There's nothing funny about sexuality.
On a separate note of bullying, some of the [at the time] senior students bullied most of the juniors. I was bullied by one of the seniors. She had a cousin my age who had been a bit uptight so i stuck up for myself, and she did not like that. She came to my class and tried to fight me. Of course me being the small 13 year old I was, I was quite shit scared. An older girl helped me out by sneaking me out of class, but the senior student noticed and chased after me. I was cornered in the bathroom by her and her mates one day and they only left me alone after I started bawling my eyes out.
What else... the art teacher there was a ripe bitch to most students. Why bother to teach art class if you would just go around telling students "what is that?" And "that's not art" when you look at their work.
Social media was also a big influence when it came to bullying. Most students took photos of the less popular kids as a way to mock them and make fun of them. Others used social media during time at school to message threats to students. Quite disgusting.
Students who were not "rich" or "popular" were heavily excluded and looked down upon by those of the opposite. Some poor girls even sat by themselves because they were too worried to make friends due to how "weird" they were labeled.
My three highlights from going here were J-Rock, Rosso (choir) and my year 7 teacher.
I'm sure almost any school in Invercargill is garbage, but this school is the cherry on top. I hope to God it's gotten better since I left, for the sake of future students. Glad I left when I did.
The most distinct thing I remember was the "lesbian pit" at the school. We had a pit with a statue in the middle of one of the courtyards, and if two girls went in there together they would be bullied and claimed as "lesbians". I'm unsure if this rumor is still around, but it really showed how much students were against the LGBTQIA+ community. There's nothing funny about sexuality.
On a separate note of bullying, some of the [at the time] senior students bullied most of the juniors. I was bullied by one of the seniors. She had a cousin my age who had been a bit uptight so i stuck up for myself, and she did not like that. She came to my class and tried to fight me. Of course me being the small 13 year old I was, I was quite shit scared. An older girl helped me out by sneaking me out of class, but the senior student noticed and chased after me. I was cornered in the bathroom by her and her mates one day and they only left me alone after I started bawling my eyes out.
What else... the art teacher there was a ripe bitch to most students. Why bother to teach art class if you would just go around telling students "what is that?" And "that's not art" when you look at their work.
Social media was also a big influence when it came to bullying. Most students took photos of the less popular kids as a way to mock them and make fun of them. Others used social media during time at school to message threats to students. Quite disgusting.
Students who were not "rich" or "popular" were heavily excluded and looked down upon by those of the opposite. Some poor girls even sat by themselves because they were too worried to make friends due to how "weird" they were labeled.
My three highlights from going here were J-Rock, Rosso (choir) and my year 7 teacher.
I'm sure almost any school in Invercargill is garbage, but this school is the cherry on top. I hope to God it's gotten better since I left, for the sake of future students. Glad I left when I did.
What I think of this school
Racist, horrible , uniform is hideous , shoes are ugly, lack of culture, cranky teachers , gross food, dumb rules , old, needs better rules, better respect, can’t wear pounamu outside of uniform, don’t care about drama, the teachers think they care but they don’t
SGHS: Experience reliant on student performance
Your experience at Southland Girls' High School largely depends on your performance as a student. If you are sporty, academic and/or community-focused then you will undeniably have a better experience than students that aren't. Friend groups are very defined and I rarely see them interact with each other unless both friend groups are popular, have similar interests, or have evolved over time close by each other.
I, personally, am relatively academic (though not as well-achieving as others), horribly unsporty and a bit of a loner due to my introverted-ness and previous friend drama. As I am in my last year at school this will likely be my reputation for the rest of my school life at SGHS. As I mentioned before, friend groups rarely change, so it is hard for me and other people to make new friends if they are bad at making them.
In my opinion, a largely positive point of SGHS is the subject choices - compared to other schools in Invercargill we get a much larger range of subjects and are able to try more subjects in our schooling. In years 7 and 8, we are exposed to a range of subjects as a class and then in years 9 and 10 we are able to choose 6 subjects each year, of which you will have three each semester. I think that this system is very beneficial to students because we are given the opportunity to really explore our options and find out what our strengths and favourite subjects are. In years 11 & 12 we have six subjects in total for the entire year, including English, maths and science, and in year 13 we have five subjects for the entire year as well as a study period. Teachers are a bit of a hit-or-miss at SGHS, and you might also find that the attitude of a teacher changes depending on how good of a student you are. Since I am more on the academic side, I generally have a good experience with teachers, though I have had less favourable experiences with teachers in the past, specifically one in the English department.
The last point that I want to mention is the principal, Mrs Browning. Unlike a lot of the reviews here, I actually have a positive work relationship with her in which she works with me to keep me accountable for doing my schoolwork (I have a history of very bad procrastination). For some reason, she likes me, so my interactions with her are a lot more favourable than with many other students. Mrs Browning expects the best in your area of strength or in terms of whatever you want to work on - she is supportive but you have to put in the effort yourself; she will help you but expect you to help yourself as well. She can admittedly come off as standoffish and reputation focused, but if you get the chance to cultivate a working relationship with her then you should as it's a good opportunity due to her mentoring abilities. She strongly values hard work and the "school values"; respect, responsibility and integrity.
Overall, SGHS is what you make of it. I don't have too much experience with the bullying side of things, so I don't want to comment on it, but I have heard a lot of negative things from other students so I would consider it. While SGHS is unfair in terms of it's bias towards "better" students I would say that the subjects and facilities, while maybe not amazing, certainly aren't bad. SGHS is worth consideration, and depending on your own values and strengths as an individual, you might find your own place here.
I, personally, am relatively academic (though not as well-achieving as others), horribly unsporty and a bit of a loner due to my introverted-ness and previous friend drama. As I am in my last year at school this will likely be my reputation for the rest of my school life at SGHS. As I mentioned before, friend groups rarely change, so it is hard for me and other people to make new friends if they are bad at making them.
In my opinion, a largely positive point of SGHS is the subject choices - compared to other schools in Invercargill we get a much larger range of subjects and are able to try more subjects in our schooling. In years 7 and 8, we are exposed to a range of subjects as a class and then in years 9 and 10 we are able to choose 6 subjects each year, of which you will have three each semester. I think that this system is very beneficial to students because we are given the opportunity to really explore our options and find out what our strengths and favourite subjects are. In years 11 & 12 we have six subjects in total for the entire year, including English, maths and science, and in year 13 we have five subjects for the entire year as well as a study period. Teachers are a bit of a hit-or-miss at SGHS, and you might also find that the attitude of a teacher changes depending on how good of a student you are. Since I am more on the academic side, I generally have a good experience with teachers, though I have had less favourable experiences with teachers in the past, specifically one in the English department.
The last point that I want to mention is the principal, Mrs Browning. Unlike a lot of the reviews here, I actually have a positive work relationship with her in which she works with me to keep me accountable for doing my schoolwork (I have a history of very bad procrastination). For some reason, she likes me, so my interactions with her are a lot more favourable than with many other students. Mrs Browning expects the best in your area of strength or in terms of whatever you want to work on - she is supportive but you have to put in the effort yourself; she will help you but expect you to help yourself as well. She can admittedly come off as standoffish and reputation focused, but if you get the chance to cultivate a working relationship with her then you should as it's a good opportunity due to her mentoring abilities. She strongly values hard work and the "school values"; respect, responsibility and integrity.
Overall, SGHS is what you make of it. I don't have too much experience with the bullying side of things, so I don't want to comment on it, but I have heard a lot of negative things from other students so I would consider it. While SGHS is unfair in terms of it's bias towards "better" students I would say that the subjects and facilities, while maybe not amazing, certainly aren't bad. SGHS is worth consideration, and depending on your own values and strengths as an individual, you might find your own place here.
honestly sucks.
the school genuinely sucks, i feel so drained by going to this school. the teachers suck & the principal isn’t any better. we have a STRICT no jewelry and unnatural hair colour policy because it’s “distracting” yet the teachers there wear so many jewellery and have the most out of pocket hair colour. the don’t care about the students feelings. there’s always favourite even tho they swear by fair treatmeant. and their stupid motto is “we’re all sisters” yet there’s so much bullying. they claim to solve it yet brush it off and blame the students most the time. the teachers and so racist aswell. they don’t allow cultural jewellery, saying it’s against school policies. i’m sorry but explain how a single nose stud affects our learning? girl high genuinely is such a bad school. i don’t recommend sending any of your daughters there.
bad school but theres not much better in invers
i am a student at girls high and i hate it. most of the teachers dont care about you or your mental health. if you cry in class you go to the therapy room and sit there for 15 mins and thats all. just today the principal told us we cant have peircings because it makes the school look bad an i think thats crap they are teaching us to change ourselfs so other people dont say bad things about you? what a good life lesson for young girls.
High school
DON'T GO HERE
I'm a student and this place f*****g sucks, the food is expensive, uneatable and they don't let you go anywhere to get food somewhere else, recently they split up my friend group and said we can't hang out together, and there is a certain teacher who keeps saying it there is only two good teachers I can think of at this time and one is a substitute teacher, the other is my science teacher. They only care about you if you can do sports, if you don't like sports your on there black list, if you step one toe out of line your on the principle's black list, they make us clean and stuff for open day to make it look like it's the perfect school and they like to act like their poor but they can afford trips up to Auckland, Frace, Japan and Germany almost every year. DON'T SEND YOUR KID HERE
Amazing school with quality education
As the mother of a girl attending this school, I have to admit that the school staff members are highly responsible and excellent in girls’ education. The school sets expectations which enable girls to achieve goals and become well-educated and well-behaved. My older daughter loves the extra-curricular activities offered at the school and made many friends. Their school uniforms look smart and tidy as well. My younger daughter is looking forward to starting at Southland Girls High this year!
Great school overall
I love our school environment, in which bullying or misbehavior is prohibited. The school has taught us well in terms of academic learning, manners, sports/music, and behaviors. We love our school uniforms, particularly the red shoes. We probably have one of the best school uniforms among New Zealand schools. Overall, It’s a great school to attend.
Excellent school with professional staff members
I attended Southland Girls High. I really loved our school not only due to its academic excellence, but also because of the various sports and music extra-curricular activities available at the school. The school leadership team and teaching staff are quite professional and passionate about girls’ education. I would highly recommend parents and girls to consider this school for a quality education.
Go away *** ********
I hate this school with every fibre of my being , it’s shit all the girls there are complete and***** ****** ( Teenage girl thing I guess ) and the principle is a huge asshole step one toe out of line and all of a sudden you are on her black list for all eternity the rules are restrictive and old fashioned and honestly I would rather go to aroha at least you don't get dumped in the " to hard" bin , not to mention the uniforms , the shoes are uncomfortable and the dress is a tea towel both completely overpriced especially when you take into account that this is a school full of teenagers and they're going to be growing. The science program is completely mind numbing math is either too easy or far too hard , english is boring. It is basically a class where the teacher rambles on and on about the same thing in different words each lesson and there are very few good teachers. In fact only one comes to mind (** ******* (?)) (sorry if I spelt your name wrong) . If i could give this school zero stars I would , don't send your kid here
SGHS is a phony
SGHS is overall a school that acts as if they care for their students, however they truly do not. Jewellery is a big no no as if is a “distraction” from learning but the only people who have distracting jewellery is the teachers who wear 20,000 bangles that clang all together when we are supposed to be learning. The teachers don’t care for your well-being and health and never understand if one day you are just having a bad day. The principal is rude and I personally have never seen her happy. The teachers have clear favourites and make it very obvious who they like and who they don’t like. A lot of racism from the teachers behalf is thrown upon the students of colour. One teacher in particular is the rudest teacher I have ever met, he shows no respect towards the students unless they are sporty, is so racist towards student who have moved to new zealand from another country, and if you are struggling with work he doesn’t help you. The school claims that we are all “sisters” and treat each other well and that they have no bullying however if there is bullying they do not know how to deal with it. If there is drama at school they just brush it off and call the students over dramatic and overall blame it in the students. Everyone at school is mentally and physically exhausted as we barely ever get any breaks from school to personal life to homework it’s just so tiring at the end of the week. School definitely prefers their sporty students and put all of their attention towards them. Teachers daughters who go there get favoured especially one mother definitely favours her daughter and gives her special opportunities and brings drama that her daughter is included in outside of school inside of school. Overall would say come to this school if you are sporty or want to range somewhere i. the sciences as that is all they care about
scummy
teachers target certain students. the whole school system is completely naive about girls getting bullied. there is no decent support for the students, they make us feel like our problems are irrelevant
SGHS should burn
This school is horrible, teachers and students bully you, I feel really unsafe there. You can't wear anything execpt the school uniform, even a tiny little bracelet is a big no no. It's absolutely bullshit. They expect me to wear the Jersey but they decided to make it out of wool and I'm allergic to wool and none of the staff give a shit. Don't even get me started on those blister making clown shoes, they're so horrible and who the f### would where them.The art and music side of the school is amazing that's why I give the school a star. Every science class since year 8 has been nothing but teaching us stuff we've already learnt and it's just wasting my time.That the school should not even be a school its terrible, it's unsafe, it decreases your mental health completely, they say they "try" to help with mental health but they don't even do anything, the guidance consulars don't even do anything apart from talking to you like a baby. The school doesn't even let you wear the winter uniform when it's freezing because "you're supposed to wear the summer uniform" the uniform policies are so strict it's insane, that school makes North Korea look like a tea party.
sghs review
it’s ok i guess. i dislike the principal and the school is kinda sexist - they don’t let us do woodwork. but overall a pretty good school.
Teacher is the bully
I personally was bullied, excluded and harassed by a teacher. I have gotten my parents involved and they have talked to teachers and they have lied about doing things to help - they actually don’t do anything. We’ve even brought it to the principal and she also has done nothing.
WORST SCHOOL EVER
Southland Girls High School Is The Worst School Ever Because They Have No Idea How To Stop Bullying And They Have No Idea How To Handle There Students When Fights Break Out And There Teachers Are Absolutely Useless They Don't Help Students When They Need It.
my school life at sghs
its been okay, been ups and downs during school but over all okay
review from current senior student here
its a good school except we are the only ones in invercargill without study leave for school exams which is stupid. toilets, science rooms, computer rooms and entire building that is old tweedsmuir needs redone
Southland girls
I personally don’t like the school very much, some of the teachers there are really good and help out a lot with my learning. But most really don’t deserve to be a teacher. SGHS is understaffed and will pull you out of class for struggling non stop instead of letting you try to learn in class. Overall it’s not that bad, but there is a lot they can do to make it a better environment and have better teachers students can benefit from.
Just don’t
They treat everyone differently, don’t help with bullying and even the teachers will bully you. Good if you like to follow stupid rules and love sports other then that I wouldn’t recommend
328 Tweed Street, 9812, Invercargill
Yvonne Browning
03 211 6030
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