Kelston Girls' College
Kelston Girls’ College (KGC) is a single-sex girls state secondary school in Kelston, a suburb in West Auckland, New Zealand. It was created in 1963 when the roll of Kelston High School (formed in 1954) became too large for the site on the corner of Archibald and Great North Roads.[2] The boys moved to a new site further down Archibald Road and the original site became the home of Kelston Girls' High School (now Kelston Girls' College).
| Kelston Girls’ College | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | |
Achibald Rd, Kelston, Auckland New Zealand | |
| Coordinates | 36.90676°S 174.66374°E |
| Information | |
| Type | State single-sex girls secondary (Year 9–13) |
| Motto | To wisdom with honour |
| Ministry of Education Institution no. | 84 |
| Principal | Sarah Stenson |
| School roll | 486[1] (April 2023) |
History
In 1888, New Lynn School, one of the first schools in West Auckland, was opened on the current site of Kelston Girls' College. In 1914, the school was relocated to its modern-day site on Hutchinson Avenue.[3] In 1954 the Kelston High School, a co-educational school, was opened at the site of the old New Lynn School.[4] It was the third high school to open in West Auckland, after Avondale College in 1945, and Henderson High School a year beforehand.[4] Kelston High School was separated into two schools in 1963, with Kelston Girls' High School remaining at the site and Kelston Boys' High School moving to a new campus to the north.[4] In 1993, a marae was established on the school grounds.[4]
In 2004 Kelston Girls' High School Board of Trustees decided to undergo a change of name. Following consultation with the community, the school was renamed Kelston Girls' College. At the time Board chairwoman Rosemary Caldwell commented that the name change would help to attract international students.[5]
Curriculum
Kelston Girls' College is a Te Kotahitanga school.[6] Te Kotahitanga is an education style aimed at raising Māori student achievement. It prescribes that the student is at the centre of learning in the classroom and that culturally responsive relational trust is the focus of all teachers.
Demographics
As of 2014 the school's ethnic composition was as follows:[7]
- Māori 16%
- NZ European/Pākehā 4%
- Samoan 30%
- Tongan 11%
- Fijian 6%
- Middle Eastern 6%
- Indian 5%
- African 3%
- South East Asian 3%
- Cook Island Māori 2%
- Niue 4%
- other Pacific 8%
- other 2%
Kelston Girls' College receives a number of students who have come to New Zealand as refugees. These students are supported with an orientation programme, regular homework tutorials and career planning.
Hauora centre
Kelston Girls' College has an onsite Hauora centre. Students have access to a doctor, registered nurse, physiotherapist, guidance counsellors, youth work, social worker and family planning services. The purpose-built centre aims to support students' physical, emotional and mental health. [8]
Notable alumni
- Justice Debra Mortimer, Justice of the Federal Court of Australia.
Sport
- Brenda Matthews – athletics, represented NZ at the 1972 Summer Olympics, 1996 & 1974 Commonwealth Games[9]
- Monalisa Codling – rugby, Black Ferns
- Linda Itunu – rugby, Black Ferns[10]
- Aldora Itunu – rugby, Black Ferns[10]
- Beverly Weigel – athletics, represented NZ at the 1956 & 1960 Summer Olympics, 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games[11][12]
Notable staff
- Haidee Tiffen – cricket, White Ferns[13]
References
- "New Zealand Schools Directory". New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- Cox, Charlotte (15 April 2004). "Schools combine for 50th jubilee". Western Leader. p. 5.
- Skelton, Carolyn (2016). A Brief History of New Lynn: A West Auckland suburb. p. 12-13.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - Devaliant, Judith (2009). "History Lessons". In Macdonald, Finlay; Kerr, Ruth (eds.). West: The History of Waitakere. Random House. pp. 205–207. ISBN 9781869790080.
- Earnes, David (1 March 2005). "School eyes name change 'bait'". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
- Ministry of Education
- Kelston Girls’ College Education Review Report 2014
- "Kelston Girls' College". www.kelstongirls.school.nz. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- "Kelston at half century". Aucklander (West ed.). 20 October 2004. p. 14.
- Burnes, Campbell (23 June 2015). "Rugby: Meet the Black Ferns hard-nosed sisters". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
- "Beverly Weigel". SR/Olympic Sports. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
- Williams, Roy (18 December 2011). "Athletics: Rule's wacko for Jacko". The New Zealand Herald.
- "Student profile: Haidee Tiffen". University of Canterbury. Retrieved 20 March 2016.