A Taranaki school's decision to canvas opinion on whether it should change the names of its classroom blocks has stirred up a range of emotions.
Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
New Plymouth Girls' High School wants to know whether names such as O-Block and B-Block have had their day and should be replaced with something more inspirational.
The school's origins date back to 1885 when 20 young women enrolled at New Plymouth High School.
By 1914, the girls had their own institution and its sprawling campus today reflects the architectural developments of the next century.
Jacqui Brown Photo: New Plymouth Girls' High School
Principal Jacqui Brown admitted the existing building names were pretty matter of fact.
"The letter names are currently O for Old Block, B for Brick Block, N for New Block and R for ... well that one's a little bit uncertain.
"It seems it was after relocatable, but I have been told by some students that they prefer R for retro."
Brown said no one really knew why letter names were chosen.
"I think realistically it was just as buildings came along at the time and they needed a label, so obviously O for Old because it's been there a long time and N for New which is probably about 60 years old but was new at that point."
Brown said suggestions for new names have come thick and fast.
"So far when we've had information from people coming in, the new names that they like are things like inspirational women or women of Taranaki.
"One that keeps coming up because like most schools there's a great depth of very illustrious alumni to choose from but one that keeps coming up is Beatrice Tinsley, a famous astronomer in New Zealand."
Beatrice Hill Tinsley became a professor of astronomy at Yale University before her death at the age of 40. Photo: SUPPLIED
Other notable 'old girls' including Black Ferns and broadcasters have proven popular as have native bird names and local geographical features such as rivers and mountains.
One of the school's deputy head girls, Sara Daher, was surprised by the depth of feeling the proposal had received.
"We didn't realise it was such a controversial topic until we started and people on Facebook were like really angry about it, but I don't know, I think it's a really interesting idea."
Annie Larsen, who is also a deputy head girl, said change was always a bit controversial.
"There were people who like the idea of change and thought the block names were a bit outdated and then there was the other side; the other people who thought that it was tradition to have the block names and lots of 'old girls' were commenting and saying they remembered their times in the blocks."
Deputy head girls Annie Larsen and Sara Daher favour renaming the school blocks. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
The classroom blocks at NPGHS were not signposted or labelled and Annie said new names could help fix a common bugbear of new students.
"It took me quite a while to learn all the blocks and there's lots of blocks that only have one or two classrooms and I found it quite confusing to find my way around."
Sara agreed. "They're not labelled. You have to know and ask around. I guess you could say you are finally part of New Plymouth Girls' High School when you know all the blocks."
Sara was keen on the idea of paying tribute to former students.
"[It] was interesting hearing about some of the women that Ms Brown did a bit of research on just because - and I feel like this is important too - 'cause we don't really know about that kind of stuff, so if we name the blocks after them then we can learn about them."
There were a variety of opinions on campus.
Renée thought there were bigger issues to be focusing on.
"I think we could be spending our time and resources on something maybe to do with the environment or something more important than just the block names."
Ella like the idea of a change. "The letters are a bit boring. I like the idea of Māori place names."
Rebecca thought the block names should stay.
"We should probably keep them as they are because it is already pretty difficult to figure it out. Just coming into the school when I was a year 9 it was already hard to figure out which block is what."
Zoe liked the idea of naming the blocks after successful old girls of the school.
"I would like to change the name of the Millennium Building [M Block], the science building, to the Beatrice Tinsley Building.
"She went to New Plymouth Girls' High with my gran and paved her way in the world of astro science and I think it would be really cool to name the science building after Beatrice Tinsley."
Former students and staff and school whānau who want to share their thoughts on the proposal have until tomorrow to email community@npghs.school.nz to do so.