This ethnographic case study explores how senior level students and teachers perceive care in classrooms in a large, urban, high decile secondary school in Auckland, New Zealand. While much research has been conducted in primary and intermediate schools, little research has been conducted in a secondary school environment. Data was collected from students and teachers at Miro secondary school . Student and teacher participants engaged in semi-structured interviews based on the seminal work of researcher Nel Noddings. Interviews explored participants’ perceptions of care they gave and received. The researcher was also interested in determining whether students and teachers could exercise any agency over the care they received. The findings of this study show that care in a secondary school is heavily dependent on communication and relationships. It is important that educational leaders understand the importance communication and relationships in developing an environment within school communities to ensure that both students and teachers are cared for. While there are some differences in the way teachers and students perceive care, participants felt able to exercise some agency in their care.