| Macleans College | |
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Virtue mine honour
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| Location | |
| 2 Macleans Road, Bucklands Beach, Auckland |
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| Information | |
| Type | State co-educational secondary (year 9-13) |
| Established | 1980 |
| Ministry of Education Institution no. | 41 |
| Principal | B J Bentley |
| School roll | 2530[1] |
| Socio-economic decile | 10 |
| Website | www.macleans.school.nz |
Macleans College is a co-educational secondary school in New Zealand situated in the Auckland suburb of Bucklands Beach. The principal is B J Bentley. The school is named after the Macleans family who after immigrating to New Zealand in 1850 farmed the area of land that the school is built on.[2] The school emblem contains the castle from the Macleans family crest along with six waves which symbolise the seaside location of the school.[3]
The school has a reputation for academic success. Metro magazine placed Macleans College as the number one CIE (Cambridge International Examinations) Auckland high school in 2010, ahead of Westlake Boys and Auckland Grammar.[4]
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The school was opened in 1980 by then Governor General Sir David Beattie with an initial roll of 199 students.[3] The first principal was Colin Prentice, who later became director of World Vision in New Zealand, followed by his deputy Allan McDonald in 1989. On McDonald's retirement, B.J. Bentley, who holds a Master of Arts,[5] became principal in 2000.[6]
Macleans was the first public school in New Zealand to use the Whanau House system - dividing the school into houses of about 300 students each, with two form classes of 30 or so students for each year level. The eight whanau houses are named after famous New Zealanders:
| House name | House mascot | House colour | Year opened[6] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hillary | Yeti | Green | 1980 |
| Kupe | Kiwi | Yellow | 1981 |
| Rutherford | Elephant | Red | 1982 |
| Mansfield | 'Dog' from Footrot Flats | Purple | 1984 |
| Te Kanawa | Taniwha | Blue | 1987 |
| Batten | Buzzy Bee | White | 1998 |
| Snell | Black Panther | Black | 2001 |
| Upham | Lion | Light blue | 2003 |
The original houses were Rutherford, Kupe, Hillary and Te Kanawa, although Hillary was rebuilt and reopened on 29 October 1992 after it burnt down in October 13 1991.[3] More houses have been added as the roll has increased, with the latest addition being Upham, which was opened in 2003. The school has a roll of over 2,500 students.
Macleans College is located in Macleans Park, the largest passive reserve in the Howick/Pakuranga district.[7] Due to its sloping terrain, the school has wide views of the adjacent Eastern Beach.[8]
Each Whanau House has a one-storey building (with the exception of Batten) containing classrooms and science labs, and often several associated prefabs. Each Whanau House building also has a large central indoor commons area, which, along with being a general purpose socialising space, is used for house assemblies, lunch eating, and co-curricular activities. The school also contains specialised non-house associated Science and Home Economics (Practical), Music, and Engineering buildings, along with the large Barbara Kendall gymnasiums and a smaller auditorium for productions and performance.
The college takes in fee paying foreign students, mainly of Asian ethnicity. As they pay more than NZ$14,000 each per year, they constitute a significant part of the school's income.[9]
Macleans offers the top intellectually performing students in each year level to apply for entry into their 'A class', their gifted and talented education system.[10]
Students in the class accelerate past their year level in CIE pathway subjects. Mainstream or core students are also sometimes allowed to accelerate in subjects. Sometimes a large proportion of gifted students in any year group will result in two 'A classes' being formed.
The school's unofficial co-curricular guide for students, although not extensive and slightly outdated, includes 28 sporting codes, 13 academic activities, 6 drama activities, 14 musical activities, 18 cultural activities and 24 clubs as part of the larger 'Intercultural Club'.[11] Each student is required to participate in at least one long term co-curricular activity.[12]
The school is particularly successful in the music department. In the annual KBB Music Festival which is held for secondary schools in the greater Auckland district, the Symphony Orchestra has consistently gained Outstanding awards, making them the number one secondary school orchestra for the past four years. They have also gained a gold award for six years. The Concert Band has been ranked number one for the past three years, having gained gold for four years, while the Chamber Orchestra has been ranked number one for the past two years.[13][14][15][16][17] The choir has qualified on a national level, gaining a silver for two years at the Big Sing National Finale.[18][19] The barbershop quartet gained second place nationwide while the girls' chorus placed fourth.[20]
The school also operates a representative badge system. Top tier co-curricular groups, such as the premier teams for many sports codes, debating teams, music groups, the tech crew, stage challenge, the Intercultural Club, and drama annually give out badges to their members or leaders after they have contributed significantly to that co-curricular. Three badges are available for each group, blue, silver, and gold, in ascending rank. As a general rule a student must be a part of the group for 1 or 2 years to earn blue, 2 or 3 years for silver, and 3 or 4 for gold, depending on the co-curricular and year level. The badges are made of cloth, show the name of the group, and sewn onto the top left side of a school jersey just below the school crest.
For senior students, two qualification pathways are offered: NCEA (National Certificate of Educational Achievement), and CIE (Cambridge International Examinations).[21] CIE is offered as an alternative; the principal has stated that he has "major concerns about where the new qualification [NCEA] was going", one of which he said was that NCEA "breaks down subjects into units", which he believes is incoherent and could lead to students "cherry-picking parts of subjects they want to do". However he has also stated that the school has "no intention of disestablishing NCEA"; instead, they "have got to make it work".[22]
High-achieving pupils can sit New Zealand Scholarship exams, which Macleans considers as "the prime qualification in this school”.[22] Many students in Year 13 and Year 12 sit these examinations, which lead to monetary rewards and prestige for successful scholars. A further incentive for students to undertake multiple scholarship examinations is the elite card pass system which the school grants their top scholars.[23]