The Tūrakawaewae Mural project saw year 9 and 10 social studies classes come together last year to create a piece of artwork.
Each class had their own panel with the teachers designating the theme.
The nine panels tell the story of the district, parish and school.
Artist Ira Mitchell, who oversaw the project, said it was heavily research-based with the students leading the way.
"They were self-directing where they went with their learning and what ended up being the content of their murals.
"Most of children weren’t artists, but because they had researched, learned how to design, learned how to paint and prepare the panels, the actual painting wasn’t a big challenge for them."
This research took the classes on to a series of trips up the Waitaki Valley and even further north to Timaru.
The mural also features QR codes which would lead to an online resource detailing the research the students compiled.
Mitchell said it was a "learning resource for future classes".
"Hopefully it will be a launch pad for them to investigate further and add to."
It also gave them an opportunity to have a lasting impact on their school.
"When they look out from their classrooms now, into the quad, they will see that artwork.
"They’ve created that, they’ve made a positive change in the world."
Mitchell was employed by the school as its artist in residence through the Creative In Schools programme, which the government discontinued last year.
