Marcellin College is a Catholic, integrated, co-educational college in Royal Oak,

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

for students in Year 7 to Year 13. The college was founded by the

Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic Church, Catholic religious institute of Religious brother, brothers. In 1817, Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from Fr ...

in 1958 as a school for boys only. The school follows the values of Marist education, which was formed by the name of the school and patron saint, St Marcellin Champagnat. The school is located on grounds which had been part of the Pah estate. It has an extensive woodland on its southern and western boundaries. Most of the former Pah estate contiguous with Marcellin College is now owned by the

Auckland Council Auckland Council () is the local government council for the Auckland Region in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority that also has the responsibilities, duties and powers of a regional council and so is a unitary authority, according to t ...

and is maintained as a park known as "Monte Cecilia Park." The Auckland Franciscan Friary and Retreat Centre is just across Monte Cecilia Park from the college. A Discalced Carmelite Monastery (under the patronage of the

Holy Family The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The subject became popular in art from the 1490s on,Ainsworth, 122 but veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de La ...

and St Thomas, Apostle) is directly opposite the college on Mt Albert Rd. The school became co-educational in 1981 when it amalgamated with St Benedict's College, a girls' school.

History

Origins

The college was established in 1958, for boys, by the

as a normal school''Marist Brothers' Centenary: 100 years in Auckland 1885-1985'', Marist Brothers, Auckland, 1985, p. 13. for the training of Brothers as teachers in intermediate classes.Marcellin College Prospectus 2016
(Retrieved 10 June 2016) Until 1958 the site of the college had been occupied by the Marist Brothers scholasticate. From the scholasticate, which was established in 1943, the young teachers had to travel to the Marist school in Vermont St, Ponsonby. This was expensive and inconvenient. In 1957 the scholasticate was removed to new buildings erected on land (called ''Monte Cecelia'') purchased from the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...

behind and adjacent to the college site. A new building called Marcellin Hall was built for the training of Marist Brothers. This opened in 1961. In 1979 Marcellin Hall became a Pastoral Centre for personal renewal, theological reflection and apostolic effectiveness with residential courses, seminars and retreats there conducted by a community of nuns, priests and brothers. Some parts of this building are included in the present school.

Early days

The first building of the school was a block of four classrooms and when the college commenced in 1958 it had only two year levels, years 7 and 8 – then called Forms 1 and 2. The staff of the scholasticate acted as the teachers until the College was staffed independently. The College was soon operating as a full secondary school. The need to devote resources to the new school considerably stretched the Marist Brothers and they had to reduce staff or increase class sizes at some other schools.

Co-education and integration

In 1982 the proprietor of Marcellin College signed an integration agreement with the

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

and the college entered the State education system as a

State-integrated school In New Zealand, a state-integrated school is a former private school which has integrated into the state education system under the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act 1975, becoming a state school while retaining its special character. ...

. However, it entered the state system as a co-educational secondary school because in 1981 the school had incorporated a secondary school for girls, St Benedict's College, Newton, which closed in that year.

St Benedict's College

St Benedict's College had its origins in 1884 when the

Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, often called the Josephites or Brown Joeys, are a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Mary MacKillop (1842–1909). Members of the congregation use the postnominal initials RSJ (Religious Sis ...

, at the behest of their founder,

Mary MacKillop Mary Helen MacKillop RSJ ( in religion Mary of the Cross; 15 January 1842 – 8 August 1909) was an Australian religious sister. She was born in Melbourne but is best known for her activities in South Australia. Together with Fr Julian Teniso ...

(St Mary of the Cross), arrived in Auckland from Adelaide and opened their first school in a converted shop in

Karangahape Road Karangahape Road (commonly known as K' Road) is one of the main streets in the Auckland CBD, central business district (CBD) of Auckland, New Zealand. The massive expansion of motorways through the nearby inner city area – and subsequent flig ...

. They founded St Benedict's College (secondary) and St Benedict's School (primary) near St Benedict's Church, Newton in 1886, and in 1898 a large new school was built on the opposite corner from the church. From the early 1970s, population drift coinciding with, and to some extent due to, the construction of the nearby Auckland motorway system, led to a dramatic fall off in pupils. The secondary college merged with Marcellin College in 1981, and the primary school closed. The writer

Ruth Park Rosina Ruth Lucia Park AM (24 August 191714 December 2010) was a New Zealand–born Australian author. Her best known works are the novels '' The Harp in the South'' (1948) and '' Playing Beatie Bow'' (1980), and the children's radio serial '' ...

, who attended St Benedict's in the 1930s and finished her years there as Head Girl, wrote lovingly of her school years with the sisters. "St Benedict's, unfunded, unheated, elderly and shabby, how much I owe you!" The memory of St Benedict's College is treasured as an important part of the tradition of Marcellin College.

Ethos

In 2022, "Marcellin College has seen strong roll growth and rapidly growing popularity". The college has a diverse, multicultural roll. In 2014, the school's gender composition was Male 56% and Female 44% and its ethnic composition was Māori 7%, NZ European/Pakeha 8%, Pacifica 58%. Asian 24% and other 3%. There were four international students. Academically, the school offers for senior years the

National Certificate of Educational Achievement The National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) is the official secondary-school qualification in New Zealand. Phased in between 2002 and 2004, it replaced three older secondary-school qualifications. The New Zealand Qualifications A ...

assessment system (NCEA).

Principals

* Jan Waelan (2015–2019) * Dean Wearmouth (2019–2022) * Maria Prescott (2022–present)

Notable alumni

This is a list of notable former students of Marcellin College, Auckland and St Benedict's College, Newton, which amalgamated with Marcellin College in 1981. * Roy Asotasi (1982–), New Zealand rugby league representative * Casey Costello (born 1965), Politician, list MP for the

New Zealand First Party New Zealand First (), commonly abbreviated to NZ First or NZF, is a political party in New Zealand, founded and led by Winston Peters, who has served three times as deputy prime minister. The party has formed coalition governments with both maj ...

and cabinet minister (2023–present) * Alaisalatemaota Bakulich-Leavasa (born 1979),

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player;

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

’s most-

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

women’s rugby player. *

Monty Betham La’auli Montgomery Junior "Monty" Betham (born 12 March 1978) is a professional boxer, and former professional rugby league footballer. A New Zealand international representative and , he played club football for the New Zealand Warriors i ...

(1978–), New Zealand rugby league representative and professional boxer * Greg Burgess (born 1954), representative national New Zealand rugby union player,

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

prop (1980 and 1980) * Mark Hotchin (1958–), businessman, director of Hanover Finance * Leki Jackson-Bourke (1993–), Playwright. *

Neru Leavasa Anae Neru Asi Tuiataga Leavasa is a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He served as the Member of Parliament for from 2020 to 2023. Early life and family Leavasa's parents immigrated from Samoa in the 1980s. His mother is from Le'a ...

, New Zealand politician, Labour Party Member of Parliament for (2020 to 2023). * Chris Lewis (1957–), tennis professional, men's finalist at the

1983 Wimbledon Championships The 1983 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 97th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held from ...

Joseph Romanos Joseph Romanos (born 1957) is a New Zealand journalist, author and broadcaster focusing mainly on sport. Life and career Romanos attended St Patrick's College in Wellington. His father Richie Romanos played cricket for Wellington in the 1951� ...

, ''Chris Lewis: All the Way to Wimbledon'', Rugby Press, Auckland, 1984, p. 43, . *

Adrienne Lili'i Adrienne Lili'i (born 9 November 1970) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. She debuted for the New Zealand women's national side, the Black Ferns, on 16 October 1999 against Canada at Palmerston North. She was selected for the 2002 Wome ...

(born 1970), former New Zealand

player. *

Dylan Mika Dylan Gabriel Mika (17 April 1972 – 20 March 2018) was a New Zealand-born rugby union player who represented the national teams of both Samoa and New Zealand. Born in Auckland, Mika was initially educated at Marcellin College, before movin ...

(1972–2018), former rugby union player; New Zealand

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

and Samoa representative. *

Ronaldo Mulitalo Ronaldo Mulitalo (born 17 November 1999) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a er for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the National Rugby League (NRL). He has played for the , and at an international level. Background Mu ...

(1999–), professional rugby league player, representative of

Samoa national rugby league team The Samoa national rugby league team represents Samoa in rugby league football and has participated in international competition since 1986. Known as Western Samoa before 1997, the team is administered by Rugby League Samoa and are nicknamed To ...

and current

Cronulla Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Sutherland Shire of Southern Sydney, New South Wales. Cronulla compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league compet ...

player * Johnny Ngauamo (1969–), rugby union player, Auckland

Blues (Super Rugby) The Blues (; known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 1999) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established b ...

and

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

representative *

(1917–2010), writer (St Benedict's)Tony Eyre, "The Book Collector: Reading and Living with Literature"", Mary Egan, Dunedin, 2023, pp. 183 and 184. *

Joseph Parker Joseph Dennis Parker, (born 9 January 1992) is a New Zealand professional boxer. He has held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Interim championship, interim heavyweight title since 2024. Previously, he held the WBO heavyweight title from 2016 ...

(1992–), professional boxer, competed at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

; World Boxing Organization (WBO)

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

champion (2016–2018) * Freda Stark (1910–1999), dancer (St Benedict's) * Fetuʻu Vainikolo (1985–), professional rugby union player, representative of

Notes

Sources

* Pat Gallager, ''The Marist Brothers in New Zealand Fiji & Samoa 1876-1976'', New Zealand Marist Brothers' Trust Board, Tuakau, 1976. * ''St. Benedict’s College : corner East St. & St. Benedicts St., Newton, Auckland, New Zealand'' or ''Souvenir magazine St. Benedict’s College, 1980'', The College, Auckland, 1980. * Nicholas Reid, '' James Michael Liston: A Life'',

Victoria University Press Te Herenga Waka University Press or THWUP (formerly Victoria University Press) is the book publishing arm of Victoria University of Wellington, located in Wellington, New Zealand. As of 2022, the press had published around 800 books. History V ...

, Wellington, 2006. * {{Schools in Auckland Educational institutions established in 1958 Marist Brothers schools Catholic secondary schools in Auckland 1958 establishments in New Zealand People educated at Marcellin College, Auckland Educational institutions established in 1884