Southland Boys' High School

SBHS was founded in 1881 and, in 1926, the original brick building was opened on the present Herbert St site. This building is called the Pearce Block in memory of Mr T. Pearce who was rector from around 1904 to 1929. Subsequent buildings were named after George Uttley, Malcolm Leadbetter, Don Grant and Laurie Cornwell. The gymnasium was named after Jim Page.

Southland Boys High School

The west end of the Pearce Block suffered a fire during Easter 1980 which was well recorded in the 1980 year book "The Southlandian". The fire extensively damaged three class rooms on the upper floor whilst the Rector's, DP's and Senior Master's offices on the ground floor were water damaged (in the right hand side of the photo).

The school co-hosted the 2006 State Twenty20 Cricket Knock-Out Tournament in Invercargill.

Well-known former students include Jeremy Waldron, who attended the school until 1970 and is now a prominent legal and political philosopher in the United States, and Andrew White, who played rugby for the All Blacks in the 1920s. Back in the early 1980s there were several rows of framed photos in the downstairs corridor of the Grant Block of Old Boys who had gone on to represent New Zealand at rugby or cricket. The Leadbetter Wing also had framed photos of the First 15 rugby team dating back to around 1913. Other notable All Blacks are 100 test veteran Malili (Mils) Muliaina,[3] former captain Paul Henderson,[4] props Jamie Mackintosh, and Clarke Dermody.[3] The school also has a proud tradition in providing New Zealand schoolboys Rugby representatives. Recent names include Robbie Robinson, John Hardie[3] and Scott Eade.[5]

Outside sport, George Mason has made a name for himself in television with recurring roles in hit programs such as Shortland Street, Go Girls, and most recently Home and Away (Australian soap).[6] Also in the arts scene, New Zealand cartoonist Shaun Yeo began his career supplying cartoons and illustrations to The Southland Times while still a student at the school.[7]

Houses at Southland Boys High School are named after past Rectors of the school, minus Coldstream House. The Houses compete in Sports Days, Cultural Competitions, Swimming Competitions, Drama Productions, Fundraising Events among other activities.

• Coldstream House is represented by the colour Orange.
• Deaker House is represented by the colour Red.
• Grant House is represented by the colour Green.
• Uttley House is represented by the colour Blue.
• Pearce House is represented by the colour Black.

Rectors of the school are as follows:

• Mr G W Blanchflower (1881 - 1885)
• Mr A H Highton (1886 - 1893)
• Mr H L Fowler (1893 - 1903)
• Mr T D Pearce (1904 - 1929)
• Dr George Uttley (1930 - 1946)
• Mr Malcolm Leadbetter (1947 - 1950)
• Mr Don Grant (1950 - 1963)
• Mr Laurie Cornwell (1963 - 1981)
• Mr Jack Alabaster (1981 - 1988)
• Mr Rowly Currie (1989 - 1999)
• Mr Ian Baldwin (2000 - 2017)
• Mr Simon Coe (2017 - )