Saint Kentigern College is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

co-educational

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

secondary school in the suburb of

Pakuranga Pakuranga is an eastern suburb of Auckland, in northern New Zealand. Pakuranga covers a series of low ridges and previously swampy flats, now drained, that lie between the Pakuranga Creek and Tamaki River, two estuarial arms of the Hauraki Gul ...

on the eastern side of

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 ...

, New Zealand, beside the Tamaki Estuary. It is operated by the Saint Kentigern Trust Board which also operates Saint Kentigern Boys' School, Saint Kentigern Girls' School and Saint Kentigern Preschool based at two different campuses in

Remuera Remuera is an affluent inner city suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located four kilometres southeast of the city centre. Remuera is characterised by many large houses, often Edwardian or mid 20th century. A prime example of a "leafy" sub ...

. Established in 1953, the college is semi-coeducational with a single-gender Middle College for years 7 and 8, with years 9 and 10 single-gender in core subjects and a co-educational Senior College for years 11–13.

Kentigern Kentigern ( cy, Cyndeyrn Garthwys; la, Kentigernus), known as Mungo, was a missionary in the Brittonic Kingdom of Strathclyde in the late sixth century, and the founder and patron saint of the city of Glasgow. Name In Wales and England, this s ...

(or Mungo) is the patron Saint of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. In 2003, the college introduced girls into the school for the first time with 140 female students; these were known as the foundation girls. There are now over 900 female students attending, with numbers increasing every year. Saint Kentigern College is an IB World School offering the

IB Diploma Programme The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a two-year educational programme primarily aimed at 16-to-19-year-olds in 140 countries around the world. The programme provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into ...

for Year 12 and 13 students. The Saint Kentigern Trust Board approved the decision in late 2006. The course was first offered to Year 12 students in 2009.

History

Saint Kentigern College opened in 1953 on a rural site from the centre of

, bordering the waters of the Tamaki Estuary. With ninety foundation pupils and a staff of four, the College was the realisation of a dream for a group of

ministers and laymen who had established the Saint Kentigern Trust in 1949Our History
Saint Kentigern College. 2010/05/22 to found a school for 'the acquisition of knowledge, for the glory of God, and the benefit of mankind, a proper discipline of mind and body, and a life of service to others.' The College took the name of the patron saint of

Saint Kentigern Kentigern ( cy, Cyndeyrn Garthwys; la, Kentigernus), known as Mungo, was a missionary in the Brittonic Kingdom of Strathclyde in the late sixth century, and the founder and patron saint of the city of Glasgow. Name In Wales and England, this s ...

, who is also affectionately known in Scotland as Mungo. The foundation Headmaster of the College, chosen in 1952, was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

minister, the Reverend Adam MacFarlan. With a distinguished academic record at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

and a

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC i ...

from active service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, MacFarlan led the College from its beginnings until his retirement in 1983. In 1972 he was awarded the

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

degree by his old university for services to education in New Zealand, and on his retirement was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, for services to education and the community, in the 1983 Queen's Birthday Honours. As its second Headmaster, Saint Kentigern College chose an Old Boy, Nigel Toy. During his leadership, the College grew from 700 to over 1000 students and a building programme saw significant new facilities, including the Sir William Goodfellow Memorial Library and a new classroom block, as well as refurbished dormitories and new residential lodges at Bruce House, the College boarding hostel, where Toy had once been Head Prefect. In 1997, Toy left New Zealand to take up a leadership position at St George's School,

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, Canada, and was succeeded as Headmaster at Saint Kentigern by the Reverend David Williams, formerly

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

to the College. In his four years as Headmaster, he led major initiatives in pastoral care and information technology. Major landscaping changes enabled the development of the Saint Kentigern Old Boys' Sports Centre as well as a range of new sports fields, and opened the way for the possibility of girls' education at Saint Kentigern in its second half-century. Williams left in 2001 when he was appointed Headmaster of Kinross-Wollaroi School in Orange,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. He was succeeded by Warren Peat, who from a background of teaching in New Zealand co-educational schools was charged with leading the College in its introduction of girls and significant campus development. With Peat in the position of Executive Head, Saint Kentigern College was restructured as a Senior School and Middle School and the roll rose to over 1600 boys and girls. As well as the Elizabeth MacFarlan Centre for girls, the magnificent Art and Technology complex and the extensively re-developed Music and Science buildings provided impressive specialist facilities for an expanding College. Peat attracted a large staff of men and women, highly qualified across a wide range of subject disciplines, and challenged both staff and students to set the highest standards in all their endeavours. Major academic initiatives under his leadership saw both strong achievement in NCEA assessments and the endorsement of the College as an IB World School, authorised to teach the

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate (IB), formerly known as the International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the IB Dip ...

Diploma Programme. Saint Kentigern College Executive Head Warren Peat left at the end of 2008 to become headmaster of John Paul College, near

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Australia. He stated that there was "an offer he couldn't refuse". Stephen Cole then took up the role of headmaster. Cole left Saint Kentigern at the end of Term 1, 2017. The position of Head of College was then disestablished and replaced with separate positions for Principal of Middle College (Years 7–10) and Principal of Senior College (Years 11–13). At the same time a new role as Head of Saint Kentigern was created with former headmaster of

Rangitoto College Rangitoto College is a state coeducational secondary school, located on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. Serving years 9 to 13, Rangitoto has a school roll of as of making it the largest "brick-and-mortar" school in New Zealand (on ...

, David Hodge taking up the position. In 2019, the Saint Kentigern Trust Board decided to move away from the separate middle college and senior college model, returning to a single college structure. Russell Brooke, formerly the principal of ACG Parnell College, was appointed as the new principal of Saint Kentigern College. Brooke resigned in October 2021, following a period of unexplained leave which had been in effect from August 2021. Subsequently, Duncan McQueen assumed the role of acting principal until Damon Emtage joined Saint Kentigern College as principal in January 2023. Emtage previously worked in several independent schools in Australia, including Brisbane Grammar School and Wesley College Melbourne.

School structure

The school's houses are named after Scottish Presbyterian church members, each of whom died for their cause (

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

s), and could be considered to have given their all for their faith. Students are allocated into one of the six houses and compete throughout the year in house competitions. They are called: *Wishart for

George Wishart George Wishart (also Wisehart; c. 15131 March 1546) was a Scottish Protestant Reformer and one of the early Protestant martyrs burned at the stake as a heretic. George Wishart was the son of James and brother of Sir John of Pitarrow, ...

(yellow) *Hamilton for Patrick Hamilton (red) *Chalmers for James Chalmers (blue) *Cargill for

Donald Cargill Donald Cargill (1619 – 27 July 1681) was a Scottish Covenanter who worked to uphold the principles of the National Covenant of 1638 and Solemn League and Covenant of 1643 to establish and defend Presbyterianism. He was born around 1619, an ...

(green) *Wilson for

Margaret Wilson Margaret Anne Wilson (born 20 May 1947) is a New Zealand lawyer, academic and former Labour Party politician. She served as Attorney-General from 1999 to 2005 and Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2005 to 2008, during the Fifth L ...

(purple) * Stark for Helen Stark (teal)

Sport

Several high performance sports personalities and coaches based around the world have attended Saint Kentigern. The school has a tennis and golf academy for students who excel in the two sports respectively. Saint Kentigern has dominated tennis, golf, rugby, cycling and triathlon competitions in the last decade. Many school teams such as the rugby, hockey and cricket teams play in the top grades, while the Cycling and Triathlon programme (under the governance of Mr Rick Faulding) has thrived. Saint Kentigern College holds several Auckland cycling records and national titles. In triathlon, the College has many national titles also.

Rugby

Saint Kentigern College is noted for its rugby presence, producing All Blacks such as

Joe Rokocoko Josevata Taliga "Joe" Rokocoko (pronounced , born 6 June 1983) is a New Zealand former professional rugby union player, who played as a wing. Born in Fiji, Rokocoko grew up in New Zealand and played for the Blues and Auckland. He later played f ...

John Afoa Ioane Fitu "John" Afoa (born 16 September 1983) is a New Zealand professional rugby union player. His position of choice is at prop. Afoa currently plays for Crusaders in Super Rugby. Personal life Afoa was a student at Auckland's Papakura High ...

and

Jerome Kaino Jerome Kaino (born 6 April 1983) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. In 2004, he was named IRB International Under-21 player of the year. In 2011, he was named the New Zealand Rugby player of the year, finishing ahead of Richie McCaw ...

, all of whom were members of the Auckland 1A 1XV championship side in 2001. The 1st XV are previous holders of the Moascar cup. Firstly in 1981, defeating Wesley, and again in 1999 when they defeated, the then World champion, Kelston Boys 18- 14. Other notable years were in 1996, 1998 and 2000 where they were Runners up in the 1A competition. 2001 saw the 1st XV eclipse the previous year's 1A competition and storm the championship in their defeat of King's College in the final. The 1st XV was relegated from 1A in 2003, but promoted back to the premier grade in 2005 after going undefeated in the 1B competition. Since then Saint Kentigern College has had a profound impact and presence on the current Auckland 1A competition. The Saint Kentigern 1st XV won back to back 1A titles in 2011 and 2012, its first Top 4 National Championship in 2012, and back to back Co-educational National Titles in 2010 and 2011. As a result of winning the Top 4 National Final, the 2013 First XV had been invited to the Sanix Youth World Invitational Tournament. The tournament was staged in early May, where the 1st XV defeated

Hartpury College Hartpury University and Hartpury College, formerly Hartpury College, is a provider of further and higher education which describes itself as specialising in the "agriculture, animal, equine, sport and veterinary nursing" sectors. The university a ...

to take the world championship title. The team then went on to win their third consecutive Auckland 1A title in 2013 with a last-minute penalty. They became the first-ever side to win a three-peat of 1A rugby titles. Saint Kentigern has also gone on to win the 2015 and 2017 Auckland 1A competition. In 2019 Saint Kentigern won the CO-ED division in the national 1XV Championships beating

Feilding High School "Have Courage, Desire Greatly" , coordinates = , type = State Co-Ed Secondary School (Year 9–13) with boarding facilities , established = 1921 as Feilding Technical High School , MOE = 197 , principal = Nathan Stewart , ...

29-22. Notable Alumni of the Rugby Program include

, Steve Surridge, and

Seta Tamanivalu Setareki Tamanivalu (born 23 July 1992) is a Fijian rugby union player and former All Black. He currently plays in the centre (and occasionally wing) position for Toshiba Brave Lupus. Early life Tamanivalu was born and raised in Fiji. He atte ...

who have represented New Zealand (

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

). Another notable player who had attended Saint Kentigern for a short time was

Kieran Read Kieran James Read (born 26 October 1985) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He played as a number 8 and is a former captain of the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks. Read played for New Zealand from 2008 to 2019. He is one of ...

. In more recent times there has been a resurgence in Saint Kentigern old boys playing at

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

level.

TJ Faiane TJ Faiane (born 24 August 1995) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a midfield back for in New Zealand's domestic Mitre 10 Cup and the in the international Super Rugby competition. Early career A teenage prodigy, Fai ...

Sione Mafileo Sione Tulimaiau Mafileo (born 14 April 1993) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer who currently plays as a prop for in the ITM Cup and the in the international Super Rugby competition. Early career Mafileo attended Wesley college and exce ...

Matt Duffie Matthew David Duffie (born 16 August 1990) is a New Zealand professional rugby footballer who plays rugby union for the Blues in Super Rugby. He previously played rugby league with the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League and was a ...

Dalton Papalii Dalton Reece Papalii ("Pa-pa-lee-e") is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays for Counties Manukau in the Mitre 10 Cup and the in the Super Rugby competition. Papalii has played 22 tests for the All Blacks, New Zealand's international tea ...

Sam Nock Sam J. Nock (born 18 June 1996) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a halfback for in the Bunnings NPC and the in the Super Rugby competition. Early career Attending Saint Kentigern College in Auckland, Nock's talent ...

Blake Gibson Blake Gibson (born 19 April 1995) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a loose forward for in the ITM Cup and the in Super Rugby. Early career Born in Auckland, Gibson attended Saint Kentigern College in the city and ...

, Finlay Christie, and Tanielu Tele’a are Saint Kentigern old boys in the current

Blues (Super Rugby) The Blues (known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 2000) is 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 by ...

squad. Other former St. Kentigern old boys who play in the

competition are: Etene Nanai-Seturo -

Chiefs (rugby union) The Chiefs (formerly known as the Waikato Chiefs and officially called the Gallagher Chiefs for sponsorship reasons) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Hamilton, Waikato. The team competes in the Super Rugby competition ...

, Tiaan Tauakipulu -

New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the state, ...

, Ere Enari -

Crusaders (rugby union) The Crusaders (formerly Canterbury Crusaders and BNZ Crusaders due to sponsorship by the Bank of New Zealand) are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Christchurch, who compete in the Super Rugby competition. They are the m ...

Braydon Ennor Braydon Maurice Ennor (born 16 July 1997) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a wing and centre for in the Mitre 10 Cup and Crusaders in super rugby. Youth and school Ennor was born in Auckland, New Zealand to Zimbabwean ...

Pari Pari Parkinson Pari Pari Matua Parkinson (born 12 September 1996) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays for in the Bunnings NPC and the in Super Rugby. His position of choice is Lock. School and domestic rugby career Parkinson was educated at Sai ...

Highlanders (rugby union) The Highlanders (formerly the Otago Highlanders) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Dunedin that compete in Super Rugby. The team was formed in 1996 to represent the lower South Island in the newly formed Super 12 competiti ...

Tevita Mafileo Tevita Mafileo (born 4 February 1998, in New Zealand) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays for the in Super Rugby. His playing position is prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen b ...

Hurricanes (rugby union) The Hurricanes ( ; formerly the Wellington Hurricanes) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Wellington that competes in Super Rugby. The Hurricanes were formed to represent the lower North Island, including the East Coast, Ha ...

and

Scott Scrafton Scott Scrafton (born 18 April 1993) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a lock for in the United Rugby Championship competition. Early career Scrafton completed 5 years at Kelston boys' High School, later attended Sain ...

. In addition, there are few old collegians who play in the

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

in England and some in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

(french rugby competition). There is also a couple of old boys playing in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

, the 2011 Saint Kentigern's college 1XV captain

Albert Vete Albert Vete ( to, ʻAlipate Vete) (born 24 January 1993) is a Tonga international rugby league footballer who plays as a and for Castleford Tigers in the Betfred Super League. He previously played for the New Zealand Warriors and the Melbour ...

who currently plays for

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...

and

Suliasi Vunivalu Suliasi Vunivalu (born 27 November 1995) is a professional rugby union footballer who plays for the Queensland Reds in the Super Rugby. His regular playing position is Wing. Vunivalu previously played professional rugby league for the Melbourn ...

who is also in the current

team. Vunivalu was dubbed the highest try scorer for the club in 2016. It's been announced that Vunivalu has signed a deal to play for

Queensland Reds The Queensland Reds is the rugby union team for the Australian state of Queensland that competes in the Southern Hemisphere's Super Rugby competition. Prior to 1996, they were a representative team selected from the rugby union club competition ...

in the

competition starting from 2021. Another notable mention is the Saint Kentigern old boys who are in the current

New Zealand national under-20 rugby union team The New Zealand Under 20's Rugby Team are the representative Rugby Union team from New Zealand. They replace the two former age grade teams Under 19s and Under 21s. Their first tournament was the 2008 IRB Junior World Championship, which they won ...

: Rivez Reihana, Tamaiti Williams, and Etene Nanai-Seturo. Rivez and Tamaiti are in the development sides for the chiefs and crusaders respectively.

Demographics

The 2019

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 ...

(ERO) report states that the school had 2,092 students (28 of which are international). The gender composition was 58% male and 42% female out of which 68% were

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Ze ...

, 14%

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

, 5%

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 ...

and 13% other ethnic groups.

Notable alumni

* Kirstyn Goodger (born 1991), Olympic rower *

Ross Keenan Ross Barry Keenan (born 21 October 1943) is a New Zealand businessperson. His early career was in the airline industry in New Zealand, Australia and the United States. Since the 1990s, he has been a company director, professional board member, an ...

(born 1943), businessperson

References

External links

Saint Kentigern College Website
{{Authority control Boarding schools in New Zealand Educational institutions established in 1953 International Baccalaureate schools in New Zealand Presbyterian schools in New Zealand Secondary schools in Auckland 1953 establishments in New Zealand Scottish-New Zealand culture