Villa Maria College (Māori: Te Whare o Meri) is a single-sex secondary school in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was opened on 18 February 1918 with 14 pupils. It was founded by the Sisters of Mercy and served as a parish school when boys were admitted in 1921. From 1941 the school reverted to being a girls' college. Villa Maria College is a day school but it also had boarders between 1935 and 1979. In 1981, the college was integrated into the New Zealand state school system under the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act 1975 but its proprietors remain the Sisters of Mercy (through the Sisters of Mercy Trust Board).
| Villa Maria College Māori: Te Whare o Meri | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
 | |
| Coordinates | 43°31′45″S 172°34′03″E / 43.5292°S 172.5675°E |
| Information | |
| Type | State integrated single-sex girls secondary (year 7–13) school |
| Motto | That you may learn to Prize what is of Value |
| Established | 1918; 106 years ago |
| Ministry of Education Institution no. | 326 |
| Principal | Deborah Brosnahan[1] |
| School roll | 827[2] (August 2024) |
| Socio-economic decile | 9Q[3] |
| Website | www |
Honour
editIn the 2001 Birthday Honours, former principal Sister Pauline Margaret O'Regan was made a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DCNZM). She had left the school and the convent in 1973 to work within Christchurch's poorer communities.[4][5]
Notable alumnae
edit- Jessie Anderson (born 1998), field hockey player[6]
- Ellen Halpenny (born 1990), netball player[7]
- Courtney McGregor (born 1998), representative female artistic gymnast[8]
- Grace Prendergast (born 1992), rower[9]
- Jan Tinetti (born 1968), cabinet member of the Labour Party[10]
Notes
edit- ^ "Schools with new principals", NZ Catholic, 10 March 2013, p. 4.
- ^ "New Zealand Schools Directory". New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
- ^ "Decile Change 2014 to 2015 for State & State Integrated Schools". Ministry of Education. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ^ "Reinstating titular honours – what the honourees are saying". The New Zealand Herald. 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
"I put a lot of thought into accepting the first honour. It seems enough, to be honest. I'm perfectly comfortable with the situation as it stands.
- ^ "DPMC – New Zealand Honours". dpmc.govt.nz. 2011. Archived from the original on 21 August 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
- ^ "Villa Maria pupil Jessie Anderson selected for Junior Black Sticks". stuff.co.nz. stuff. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
- ^ "Title to Villa Maria". The Press. 4 September 2008. Retrieved 24 March 2010.
- ^ "Christchurch gymnast Courtney McGregor wins bronze before Olympic test event". The Press. 15 April 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
- ^ "Grace Prendergast". New Zealand Secondary School Rowing Association. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
- ^ "Hon Jan Tinetti". Labour Party. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
References
edit- Villa Maria College golden jubilee, 1918–1968 Christchurch, 1968.
- Mary Declan Burke RSM, Mercy through the years : the centennial history of the Sisters of Mercy, Christchurch Diocese, 1878–1978, Sisters of Mercy Trust Board, Christchurch, 1978.
- Michael O'Meeghan S.M., Held firm by faith : a history of the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch, 1840–1987, Catholic Diocese of Christchurch, Christchurch, 1988.
- Villa Maria College, seventy-five years, 1918–1993, Villa Maria College, Christchurch, 1993.
- Michael King, God's farthest outpost : a history of Catholics in New Zealand, Viking, Auckland 1997.