Aorere College is a New Zealand co-educational state secondary school (Years 9–13) that was established in 1964 in the

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

suburb of

Papatoetoe Papatoetoe is a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the largest suburb in Auckland by population and is located to the northwest of Manukau Central, and 18 kilometres southeast of Auckland CBD. Papatoetoe has the unofficial title of Auckland ...

. The current principal of the college is Leanne Webb. As of , there are approximately students, and around 150 staff at Aorere College.

History

Aorere College was founded in 1964 under the tentative name Papatoetoe West Post Primary School, to serve Mangere East and Papatoetoe West, and to ease overcrowding at

Papatoetoe High School Papatoetoe High School (PHS) is a secondary school (years 9–13) in Papatoetoe suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. History Papatoetoe High School was established in 1956. February 2021 COVID-19 outbreak On 14 February, a Year 9 student at Papat ...

. The founding principal, Charles Herbert, decided on a new name and the school was renamed Aorere College in 1965. The name is a portmanteau of the

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

words ''Ao'' (clouds or sky) and ''Rere'' (to fly), indicating the school's vision for its students "to rise up and climb to the greatest heights in every aspect of their learning and achievements". It also reflected the school's proximity to

Auckland Airport Auckland Airport is the largest and busiest airport in New Zealand, with over 21 million passengers in the year ended March 2019. The airport is located near Māngere, a residential suburb, and Airport Oaks, a service hub suburb south of the ...

. In 2015, Aorere College was put on a 4–5 year

Education Review Office The Education Review Office (ERO) (Māori: ''Te Tari Arotake Mātauranga'') is the public service department of New Zealand charged with reviewing and publicly reporting on the quality of education and care of students in all New Zealand school ...

cycle due to the school's high level of administrative and academic offerings.

Facilities

Like many New Zealand secondary schools built in the 1960s, Aorere College was constructed to the Nelson Two-Storey standard plan, distinguished by its two-storey H-shaped classroom blocks. Subsequently, new buildings have been added to accommodate increased student numbers. Developments include a second gymnasium, the Colin Pascoe Gymnasium opened in 2010 and named after the school's second principal, and remodelling of and extension to the hard technology facility in 2018. The school now has 1GB Wi-Fi across the campus, five computer labs, and approximately 1200 Chromebooks. All students have access to the G Suite for Education learning ecosystem.

Notable alumni

* Donna Rose Addis –

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of Neuropsychology,

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

* Gary Troup – New Zealand

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

, Former

deputy mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor, assistant mayor, or mayor ''pro tem'') is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many, but not all, local governments. Duties and functions Many elected dep ...

Manukau City Manukau City was a territorial authority district in Auckland, New Zealand, that was governed by the Manukau City Council. The area is sometimes referred to as "South Auckland", although this term never possessed official recognition and does ...

* Andrew John Pullan – applied mathematician,

of Engineering,

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

Keven Mealamu Keven Filipo Mealamu (born 20 March 1979) is a former New Zealand rugby union footballer. He played at hooker for the Blues in Super Rugby, Auckland in the National Provincial Championship, and the New Zealand national team. He was a key membe ...

– retired

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player,

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and

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* Pene and Amitai Pati – members of the operatic pop trio

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Lorna Suafoa Lorna Tomasone Suafoa (born 7 October 1975 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a former New Zealand international netball representative, who played in the Silver Ferns team that won a silver medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. Sinc ...

– ex

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player * Marata Niukore – current

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player,

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Dei Hamo Sanerivi "Sani" Sagala (born 24 August 1974), better known by his stage name Dei Hamo, is a New Zealand hip hop artist, producer and director. Dei Hamo, which can be translated as "The Samoan", has won various awards for his chart-topping music a ...

– hip hop artist *

Mark Hunt Mark Richard Hunt (born 23 March 1974) is a New Zealand former mixed martial artist and kickboxer of Samoan descent, currently living in Sydney, Australia. Hunt competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) until 2018 and was the winn ...

– World K1 Kickboxing champion and UFC fighter

References

{{Schools in Auckland Secondary schools in Auckland Educational institutions established in 1964 1964 establishments in New Zealand Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board Area

History

Facilities

Notable alumni

See also

References