A high school handed out condoms to girls as young as 15 after a dozen girls returned from summer holidays pregnant.

The controversial approach to family planning has come under fire from a religious group, but has been hailed a success by James Cook High School in south Auckland, where academic results have soared since it was implemented.

And researchers have called for the condom giveaway to be rolled out at schools across the country.

The contraceptives were given to teens after they finished exams at the decile 1 Manurewa high school and headed off on their summer break.

Three Auckland University nursing students came up with the idea after 12 girls returned pregnant to the school after the summer holidays of 2011.

The condoms included a sex education pamphlet advising teens on where to get the morning after pill and dispelling sex myths.

Four years on, with a new principal at the school's helm, no teens returned pregnant this summer.

While teen pregnancy rates dropped, NCEA achievement rates at the low-decile school shot up 30 per cent.

The school also has an onsite health clinic offering sex education advice.

Brother Sir Patrick Lynch, director of the New Zealand Catholic Education, said parents should be informed if condoms are being given to teens as young as 15.

"It's skidding on thin ice if they're not telling parents," he said.

"We're not talking about 30-year-olds or 20-year-olds, we're talking about minors."

When it comes to reducing teen pregnancy rates, parents and schools must work together, he said.

"You must build a trust environment with the parents."

New Zealand has the second-highest teen pregnancy rate in the developed world.

But while the rate of teenage pregnancies is dropping, many teenagers remain deaf to the safe sex message.

Contraceptive use has remained the same over the past decade, with just 60% of teens using protection every time they have sex.

Family Planning director health promotion Frances Bird said there was no standard approach to sexual education at schools.

"Schools all do different things. Some of them are doing good comprehensive sexuality education programmes, and others are not." What remains the same is contraception for teens continues to cause controversy.

The idea of teenagers having sex still makes many parents feel squeamish and uncomfortable, she said.

"They don't want to think of young people being sexual beings."

Giving teens condoms will desensitise them to using protection by allowing them to play and practise with them. James Cook High School principal Vaughan Couillault declined to comment on the study.

The Auckland University research project involved a condom being folded into a health pamphlet and given to students as they left on their exam leave.

The male's information included advice such as condoms make erections last longer. Girls were given contraception information.

TOUGH LESSONS

Fifteen years old and eight months pregnant, Shamayne Ashworth finally admitted to teachers she was expecting.

Ashworth admits her prospects were dismal.

The James Cook High School student hadn't gained any NCEA qualifications and suddenly found herself facing motherhood while still a child herself.

But her life was far from over, thanks to a radical solution which allowed her to stay in school.

Ashworth moved to the school's teen parenting unit in 2011, where she could pop into the on-site daycare to breastfeed her daughter Deizharna-Lee while still studying.

"You could see your child if they needed you," she said.

The teen mum passed NCEA level 1 and 2. Now aged 19, she is studying to be a youth worker and working as a receptionist.

Ashworth said her life would have been different without her school's help. "I wouldn't have done anything. I would have stayed at home."

Reducing teen pregnancy rates meant reaching out to students, but not just handing out condoms to kids, she said.

"You see young people who don't take education seriously. They don't see the bigger picture. You want to help them see that bigger picture."

In youth work, Ashworth hopes to use her experiences to inspire other students.

"I'm proud of myself for doing what I have as a parent."