St Peter's College, Auckland: Difference between revisions

St Peters College
Address
Mountain Road, Epsom, Auckland
Information
Type	Integrated Catholic Boys Secondary (Year 7-13)
Motto	To Love and To Serve (formerly "facere et docere": "to do and to teach")
Established	1939
Ministry of Education Institution no.	62
Principal	K. F. Fouhy
School roll	1129
Socio-economic decile	7
Website	http://www.st-peters.school.nz

St Peters College is a College for Year 7 to 13 Boys and offers a Catholic education to its students.

Location

It is located in the Central Auckland suburb of Epsom.

Roll

The school draws enrolments from throughout the city, including from Mt Albert and points west, with pupils arriving by train from those areas at the Boston Road station adjacent to the school. That station was developed in the 1960's especially for St Peter's College and, initially, only the "school" trains stopped there.

The school has a diverse, multicultural roll, and it excels in sporting and cultural activities. Academically, the school offers an alternative to the NCEA system in senior years, the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE), which challenge's the school's top academic performers.

History

The earliest Catholic school in Auckland was established under the patronage of St Peter. It was established in 1841 by the Catholic laymen of Auckland following the first visit of Bishop Pompallier (first Bishop of Auckland) and continued to provide education for boys mainly under lay teachers until the Marist brothers established a school on the corner Pitt and Wellington Streets in 1885 . An unsuccessful move was made in 1885 for a Christian Brothers School in Auckland . Later, in 1923, Bishop Henry William Cleary, the sixth Catholic Bishop of Auckland, invited the Christian Brothers to establish a school in Auckland . The Marist Brothers, already established in Auckland at Sacred Heart College (then located in Ponsonby), objected strongly and Cleary wrote to the Provincial of the Christian Brothers, Brother Barron, changing his offer to a primary school . As a result the Christian Brothers lost interest .

Shortly after he became seventh Catholic Bishop of Auckland in 1929, James Michael Liston wished to introduce the Christian Brothers, whose pupil he had been in Dunedin . Liston's intention to invite the Christian Brothers again aroused the opposition of the Marist Brothers . The Marist Brothers were concerned that a new boy's school would take enrollments from Sacred Heart College and would diminish their revenue . Unmoved by the Marist Brothers' opposition, Liston wrote to Brother James Hanrahan, the provincial of the Australian province of the Christian Brothers requesting Christian Brothers to provide staff for the proposed school . The Christian Brothers agreed on the establishment of the school . A contractor cleared the Mountain Road site in 1931 and it was expected that the school would open in 1933 . But financial problems caused delays . The Marist Brothers āppealed to Rome . They believed that Cleary had promised them St Peter's School but as no written record could be found, the Bishop was informed by the Sacred Congregation of Religious that he could invite the Christian Brothers and the Apostolic Delegate ruled "that the Bishop is free to make whatever provision he may decide in the matter" . The Marist Brothers accepted this ruling, but unhappily .

The School was constructed on a site on the corner of Khyber Pass and Mountain Road which been given to the church for educational purposes by the Outhwaite family. The Outhwaite family were descendents of an English barrister who was one of New Zealand's early colonists and was the first registrar of the Supreme Court in Auckland. The family not only bequeathed the site of the college but also a part of the fund required for its erection . The remaining funds were provided from other trust funds . The school was opened on 29 January 1939 by Bishop Liston and in the presence of Hon Rex Mason standing in for Rt Hon Peter Fraser, the Prime Minister.

The Christian Brothers have staffed the school ever since, although their presence has diminished in recent years. However the school is, and always has been, a diocesan school in that its proprietor is the Catholic Bishop of Auckland. The school became an integrated state secondary school with attached intermediate in 1982 (at the time the entire Catholic school system (currently some 240 schools) was integrated into the New Zealand state school system, with all schools retaining their Catholic "special character"). The school has had a lay principal, Mr Kieran Fouhy, since 1989. Under his leadership, a major building programme has commenced. Recent important buildings completed are the technology block (2001)(awarded the NZIA Resene Supreme Award for Architecture 2002, NZIA Resene New Zealand Award for Architecture 2002, and the NZIA Resene Branch Award for Architecture 2001) and a dedicated building for the intermediate school on Mountain Road (2003).

Reputation

St Peter's College is an important Catholic boys' school in Auckland and it is the largest Catholic school in New Zealand with a roll of approximately 1200.

Notable Alumni

Arts

• George Baloghy (1950 - ), Artist, (since 1978 has had twenty-six solo exhibitions, represented in every major public collection in New Zealand). George Baloghy website
• Sam Hunt (1946 - ), Poet.
• Tony Mackle (1946 - ), MA Art History (Ak), Diploma in Archives Administration, Art historian and curator, Collections Manager Art (Works on Paper) Te Papa Tongarewa (Specialist areas of knowledge and expertise: New Zealand and British art 1850-1950).
• Constant Mews (195? - ), D. Phil (Oxon), Associate Professor, Director, Centre for Studies in Religion and Theology, Monash University, Melbourne, (expert on medieval religious thought (especially Peter Abelard) and on interfaith dialogue).
• Douglas Mews (195? - ), MMus (Auck), Certificaat Koninkijk Cons, Lecurer , organ, Harpsichord, Fortepiano, Keyboard Skills at the New Zealand School of Music (Victoria University of Wellington), Wellington City Organist, choir director at St Teresa's church, Karori, Wellington.
• Michael Morrisey (1942 - ), Poet and Fiction writer.
• Raymond Waru (1952 - ), Television producer and director.

Business

• Sir (Humphrey) Michael Gerard Fay (1949 - ), (Knight Bachelor - 1990), New Zealand Merchant banker, co-founder/joint chief executive and director of Fay, Richwhite and Co Ltd, chair of the campaigns for three New Zealand challenges for the America's Cup in 1987, 1988 and 1992.
• The Huljich brothers, Christopher Peter Huljich (1950 - ), Paul Richard Huljich (1953 - ), Michael Huljich (1957 - ), Auckland manufacturers, merchants, entrepreneurs, rentiers and philanthropists.

Church

• Denis George Browne, Most Reverend, CNZM DD, (1937 - ), third Catholic Bishop of Cook Islands and Niue (1977 - 1983), tenth Catholic Bishop of Auckland (1983 - 1994), second Catholic Bishop of Hamilton (1994 - ).
• Father Felix Cornelius Donnelly (1929- ), QSM, PhD, priest, broadcaster, author, counsellor.
• Edward Russell Gaines, Most Reverend, (1926 - 1994), first Catholic Bishop of Hamilton (1980 - 1994) (foundation pupil of St Peter's and first old boy to be ordained a priest).

Law

• Patrick James Downey (1927 - ),OBE, MA(NZ), LL.B(NZ), Barrister and Solicitor, Chief Human Rights Commissioner and Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of New Zealand (1978 - 1984), Director, Butterworths of New Zealand (1983 - 1993), Editor, "NZ Law Journal" (1983 - 1996), General Editor, "The Laws of New Zealand" (1991 - 1995) (foundation pupil of St Peter's).
• Michael Kruse (1948 - ), LL.B (VUW), MCL (George Washington), Chief Justice of American Samoa (1987 - ).
• Dr Anthony Patrick Molloy (1944 - ), LL.D (Auck), QC (1984), lawyer, tax and trust law expert, winegrower (St Nesbit winery), author.

Politics

• Chris Carter (Honourable Christopher Joseph) (1952 - ), New Zealand Labour Party politician, Member of Parliament for Te Atatu (1993 - 1996; 1999 - ), Minister of Conservation (2002 - ) (He was New Zealand's first openly gay MP, and first openly gay member of the Cabinet).
• John Henry Tamihere (1959 - ), New Zealand Labour Party politician, Member of Parliament for Hauraki (1999 - 2002) and Tamaki Makaurau (2002 - 2005), Cabinet Minister (2002 - 2004).

Public service

• Simon Dallow (196?- ), New Zealand television presenter and lawyer.
• Martyn Dunne (195? - ), CNZM (2000), Soldier and senior public servant, Commander of New Zealand Forces and international troops in East Timor during New Zealand's largest deployment since WWII (1999-2000), (as Major General) Commander Joint Forces New Zealand in the New Zealand Defence Force (2001 - 2004), Chief Executive of the New Zealand Customs Service and Comptroller of Customs (2004 - ).
• Warwick Hutchings (1946 - ), Diplomat and senior journalist, New Zealand permanent representative in Nairobi (1992 - 1994), Press secretary to the Prince of Wales (2005 - ).
• Dr Martin Reyners (1950 - ),(Ph.D), Seismologist, New Zealand Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS Ltd).
• Jan Charles Schell (1950 - ) Senior public servant, General Manager, Crown Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (1998 - .

Sports

• Shane Paul Howarth (1968 - ), All Black, fullback (1993 - 1994).
• Patrick Richard Lam (1968 - ), All Black, loose forward (1992), coach of the Pacific Islanders rugby team (2006).
• Bernard Joseph McCahill (1962 - ), All Black, second five-eighth and centre three-quarter (1987 - 1991).
• Bradley Moni Mika (1981 - ), All Black, lock (2002), Auckland, Blues and Crusaders Rugby player.
• Dylan Gabriel Mika (1972 - ) All Black, loose forward (1999).
• Steven Roberto Nesbit (1936 - ), All Black, first five-eighth (1960) (St Peter's College's first old boy All Black).

References

• St Peter's College Silver Jubilee 1939 - 1964, Christian Brothers Old Boys Association, Auckland, 1964.
• J.C. O'Neill, History of the Work of the Christian Brothers in New Zealand, 1968.
• Jim Sullivan, Catholic Boys, Penguin Books, Auckland 1996.
• Roger Robinson and Nelson Wattie, The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature, Oxford University Press, Auckland, 1998.
• Chambers Biographical Dictionary, Chambers, Edinburgh, 6th edition, 1999.
• Graeme Donaldson, To All Parts of the Kingdom: Christian Brothers In New Zealand 1876-2001, Christian Brothers New Zealand Province, Christchurch, 2001.
• New Zealand Who's Who, Aotearoa 2001 New Millenium Edition.
• Graeme W. A. Bush (ed), The History of Epsom, Epsom & Eden District Historical Society Inc, Auckland, 2006.
• Nicholas Reid, James Michael Liston: A Life, Victoria University Press, Wellington, 2006.

External links

• St Peter's College website
• Edmund Rice Network
• All Blacks website, St Peter's College Epsom All Blacks
• Architectus website