Queen’s city’s fastest-growing high school

A South Dunedin secondary school has reversed a downwards spiral, with its roll climbing more than 60% in the past six years.

Queen’s High School has grown 62% since 2019, from 338 students to 547 students this year.

Before 2019 the all girls school’s roll had been on the decline for 16 years, dropping steadily from a high of 711 students in 2003.

Official 2024 roll figures show Queen’s as Dunedin’s fastest-growing secondary school.

The next fastest-growing is Logan Park High School, which grew 25% over the same period, from 644 students to 807.

Queen’s principal Barbara Agnew attributed its roll growth to a quality education and good cultural, sporting and leadership opportunities for students.

"I guess we’re just trying to do the best job we can and taking feedback from students about what they think works well and what we should keep doing."

Ms Agnew had worked at the school for 20 years, the past eight as principal.

The decreasing roll was a worry for the school, as it limited the resources and opportunities available to it, but a decision to focus on the students it did have, rather than those it had lost, meant parents could see students doing well and sent their children there.

With a steady increase of between 50 and 60 students every year for the past few years, Ms Agnew was happy with the direction things were heading.

The school campus as it was could accommodate up to 600 students, she said. The Ministry of Education was visiting the school on Friday, and she would bring up the need for a new science laboratory and an extra classroom.

This year’s year 9 students had come from about 20 different schools and the school community

included students from about 20 different cultures, Ms Agnew said.

"I think that's a strength for us that we have students from many different cultures."

Head girl Billie Askerud, 17, said the school had a "big family community".

She chose to go to Queen’s because at the time it was smaller and tight-knit, and despite the roll increase, there was still a strong sense of community, she said.

"It feels a lot smaller because of the relationships students have with teachers."

Of Dunedin’s secondary schools with more than 100 students, Queen’s, Logan Park High School, Otago Boys’ High School, Bayfield High School, Trinity Catholic College and Taieri College all grew between 2019 and 2024.