| St Patrick's College | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| 581 Evans Bay Parade, Kilbirnie, Wellington, New Zealand |
|
| Information | |
| Type | State integrated boys Secondary (Year 9-13) |
| Motto | Sectare Fidem 'Hold Firm to the Faith' |
| Established | 1885 |
| Ministry of Education Institution no. | 276 |
| Rector | Fr Paul Martin SM [1] |
| School roll | 793 (2011) |
| Socio-economic decile | 8 |
| Website | stpats.school.nz |
St Patrick's College is the oldest Catholic boys' secondary school in New Zealand,[2]
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Founded by Archbishop Francis Redwood SM, St Patrick's opened on June 1, 1885 with nine day-boys and twelve boarders.
The College represents one of the earliest educational establishments of the Society of Mary (Marists) the religious congregation whose members accompanied Bishop Jean Baptiste Pompallier to New Zealand in 1838, and who played a prominent role in the establishment of the Catholic church in New Zealand. The first members of staff, Irish Marists who came principally from the Marist College at Dundalk,established a number of Marist colleges such as St Bede's College, Christchurch and St John's College, Hastings in New Zealand.
Plans in 1931 envisaged the College moving to a more suitable site at Silverstream in the Hutt Valley, but a high demand for education eventually led to a split: the original establishment continued and the boarding section moved to become St Patrick's College, Silverstream, thus allowing room for the expansion of day-student numbers on the Cambridge Terrace site in central Wellington city.
From that time the city college has borne the nickname "St Pat's Town". The two separate Colleges bearing the same name have developed a shared history,and a healthy rivalry. They share an Old Boy's Association. In 1979 St Patrick's College shifted from its Cambridge Terrace site to a new facility near Kilbirnie Green in Evans Bay.
The college held its 125th Jubilee over Queen's Birthday Weekend in 2010.[3]
Saint Patrick's College bases its education on Catholic and gospel values embodied in the Marist tradition and philosophy, which regards each student as a unique individual. The school fosters growth within a nurturing and sustaining environment in six facets: spiritual, academic, cultural, emotional, physical and social.
Day by day this means involving all students in religious-education classes, retreats, liturgies and masses designed as participative opportunities for a lively faith suited to the young and involving them at all stages from preparation to celebration.
The Church establishes the resources of the College to assist parents as the "first educators" of their children. The Marist approach to education sees this partnership between the College and parents as fundamental.
Foundational to this philosophy is the Catholic belief that God has created each person as a unique individual with a range of talents. Developing these gifts in the College community means that the school encourages each boy to do his best in every endeavour. The synthesis of this idea with the New Zealand and ANZAC spirit of attempting to achieve the best that can be in all circumstances identifies a unique feature of the College. Also underpinning the philosophy, the College offers a wide range of courses and activities:
Students at St Patrick’s share so much of their time and lives together that this develops a camaraderie and sense of belonging leading to life-long friendships. Pride in current achievements and in those who have gone before them is an integral part of pride in themselves and in their College. Belonging, community and family are powerful cohesive forces and provide the motivation to do one's best in all things.
Each student is encouraged to develop personal confidence and self-discipline. Standards of behaviour and appearance are clear, and all know exactly what is expected. The foundations of the College's approach to discipline are: Respect for oneself, Respect for others, Respect for society and Respect for the environment
These are placed within the context of loving God, loving one's neighbour, and an appreciation of creation.
Aside from the winter and summer tournament weeks, major events on the calendar include:
St Pat's Town has produced 17 All Blacks,[5] including two All Black captains, Maurice Brownlie and Jerry Collins. Others include E. Harper, G. McKenzie, T. Lynch, P. Markham, L. Brownlie, P. McCarthy, J. Blake, T. Corkill, A. Mahoney, J. Best (transferred to Silverstream in 1931), R. O'Callaghan, B. Finlay, and M. Berry (1st All Black from Kilbirnie site).[6]
Currently[update] the College features prominently in New Zealand Secondary Schools' Basketball. The Senior A team has won the Wellington Secondary Schools Championship in the years: 1963, 1964, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1985, 2006, 2007 and 2008. The team has also won the National Secondary Schools Basketball Tournament (The National Championship for High School Basketball) 4 times, in 1971 and 1978 and also winning the title back-to-back in 2007 and 2008 in a team that lost only 4 games over 3 years.[7] The school has also dominated the junior basketball grades in recent history winning the Wellington Junior Championship for 2009 and 2010. The Wellington Saints basketball team has its origins in St Patrick's College.
| Championships | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Competition | Number of Championships | Year | |||
| Winter | Wellington Premier Championship | 17 | 1963, 1964, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1985, 2006, 2007, 2008 | |||
| Winter | National Championship | 4 | 1971, 1978, 2007, 2008 | |||
| Total | 21 | |||||
The college choir, Con Anima, won the national platinum award in 2004. They have produced five albums, and sing under the direction of HOD music, Roger Powdrell. Their most recent CD, Jubilation, was launched to commemorate the 125th Jubilee of St Patrick's College. The college has a proud history in the art of A Capella singing, with many significant national placings, including 2 national quartet championships, 2 national chorus championships and 2 chorus silver medals. The Saints Chorus are the two-time 2010 & 2011 NZ Male Chorus Champions. They attended the 2011 BHS International Youth Chorus Festival in Las Vegas, NV USA, where they placed in the Top 10 and were the highest placed secondary school chorus in this International Contest. The Saints have been under the direction of Henare Mihaere since 2008.