| Avondale College | |
|---|---|
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Kohia nga taikaka (Seek the Heartwood)
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| Location | |
| Victor Street, Avondale |
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| Information | |
| Type | State co-ed Secondary school Year 9-13 |
| Established | 1945 |
| Ministry of Education Institution no. | 78 |
| Principal | Brent Lewis |
| School roll | 2654[1] |
| Socio-economic decile | 4[2] |
| Website | avcol.school.nz |
Avondale College is a secondary education college in Avondale, Auckland, New Zealand. It is one of the largest secondary schools in New Zealand with 2,700 students, with 100 of those being international students.[3] There is a large cultural diversity within the school, with an ethnic composition of New Zealand European/ Pākehā 28%, Māori 9%, Samoan 15%, Chinese 12%, Indian 9%, other Asian 7%, other European 5%, Tongan 4%, Niuean 3%, other Pacific 2%, Other 6%. Around 50 different countries are represented in the student body and each of these is represented by a flag in the gymnasium.
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The principal of Avondale College and head of the 180 teachers is Brent Lewis. Many staff members of Avondale College come from Britain, through frequent teacher recruitment trips by the principal. Lewis became principal in 2001 after the death of Phil Raffills,[4] who went to great lengths to reform the school. Raffills oversaw the redevelopment of the school buildings after much of the site was destroyed in a fire in 1990.
Brent Lewis took over from acting principal (former deputy principal) Warren Peat, who went on to become principal of Saint Kentigern College.
Chairman of the board is Kevin Glubb.
Avondale College students wear a black and white uniform with the school crest on it that has variations depending on year level and gender, which changed from an older black, white and grey one in 2004. Formal attire is blazers and ties.
Avondale has a sister school in Japan called Daito Bunka, which is a preparatory school for Daito Bunka University, Tokyo.
The school has adopted NCEA for assessments and examinations. Cambridge International Examinations have also been adopted as an alternative to NCEA in 2009 and onwards.
The site and buildings of Avondale College began their life as an American Naval Hospital in 1943: U.S. Naval Mobile Hospital Number 6. At that time the USA was preparing for an extended Second World War battle in the South Pacific and Auckland was chosen as one of a few New Zealand cities for hospitals to tend the wounded army and naval personnel.
The facility was designed by Tibor Donner (then in the NZ Public Works Department) and was built by Fletcher Construction. The Department of Education had some of the site planned for a new secondary school to cope with the overcrowding of Auckland secondary schools. The hospital was given first priority, but a small portion of the buildings were built in permanent materials so that the wards, the gymnasium, the hall and some other buildings could be converted into a school at the end of the war. The extent of the hospital was huge, taking up all of the present school site as well as the nearby Rosebank Park and fields.
The war in the Pacific did not reach the scale preparations had been made for, and the hospital was not used to care for war casualties. In February 1945 a single school committee was appointed to supervise the use of the hospital as a school. As New Zealand was still virtually operating under war conditions, supplies and orders for the school were delayed.
Since 1945 the six principals of Avondale College (L.E Titheridge, A.R. Stephenson, W.R. Familton, A.H. Burton, P. R. Raffills, B. Lewis) have extended and rebuilt the buildings, redeveloped the site and grounds, created an outdoor education camp (Taurewa) in Tongariro National Park, established exchange schools in Japan and Noumea, developed business relationships with the local community, and installed advanced technologies for students and staff..
Much of the school, including the gymnasium, was rebuilt after a fire in 1990.
The school was used in the 1995 feature film Bonjour Timothy, a joint New Zealand/Canadian production, and in the Disney Channel movie, Eddie's Million Dollar Cook-Off and the Te Mana Advertisement.
The school swimming pool was used in an advertisement for Lemon & Paeroa in 2006.[5]
A male teacher (Mr Warren) was stabbed in the back with a knife while teaching a Japanese class on 3 March 2009, by a Korean exchange student studying in the college.[6]
Former New Zealand Hockey captain, Jamie Smith, is director of Commerce at Avondale College.
The Avondale College school grounds feature a science and IT building as well as a gymnasium, a maths and science block, sport fields, an astroturf complex, a theatr,, orchestra pit and flexible seating.[7]
On June 9, 2006, the New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark visited Avondale College to open the new technical subjects building, the Ferguson Building, that had already been in use through the second half of 2005. It is named after the head of the Chemical and Materials Engineering department at the University of Auckland, Professor George Ferguson, who for many years served the college on the Board of Trustees.
Avondale College is undergoing the second of a three-phase renovation project.[8] This will see the entire school rebuilt, with the old prefabricated buildings being replaced by new two-storey departments with flying walkways between them. The reconstruction is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2011 and is estimated to cost $22 million.[9] Government funding and approval for the third phase is still pending.
Avondale College has a school orchestra, big band, jazz combo, concert band, choir, chamber orchestra, soul band, rock club, string quartets and other chamber ensembles and bands.
The Premier Concert Band is one of the major music bands of the school, travelling to Sydney in June 2006 to participate in the International Music Festival, where they were awarded a Silver Award. The band has also been awarded Silver at numerous other competitions, such as the KBB Music Festival and the National Band Competition.
Also participating in Sydney's International Music Festival competition that year was the college's string group Spiccato. This octet also received a Silver Award and was one point off receiving the Gold Award.
Avondale College offers instrument tuition through itinerant teachers and has instruments available for students' use. It provides a student-based Show Band for the school's annual show. Concerts are held throughout the year to showcase the department's talents. These include the Friends and Family Concerts, Jazz and Soul Concert, Classical Concert and Best of the Best Concert. The music department has several classrooms, a computer suite with Sibelius software, a Steinway grand piano and a recording studio.
There is a school show every year, usually a musical. Recent shows have included "Grease", "High School Musical" and "South Pacific". In 2010 the show performed was "Guys and Dolls”.
The school was closed for the day on October 24, 2006 after a fatal stabbing outside its gates on Sunday evening October 22, 2006. Fourteen-year-old Manaola Kaume`afaiva died after being stabbed in the chest. Manaola, a student at the College, was attending a church event.[10]