Marian College, Christchurch was founded in 1982 with the merging of two Catholic secondary schools for girls, St Mary's College (

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...

, established in

Colombo Street Colombo Street is a main road of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It runs south-north through the centre of Christchurch with a break at Cathedral Square. As with many other central Christchurch streets, it is named for a colonial Anglica ...

in 1893) and McKillop College (named for

Mary MacKillop Mary Helen MacKillop RSJ (15 January 1842 – 8 August 1909) was an Australian religious sister who has been declared a saint by the Catholic Church, as St Mary of the Cross. Of Scottish descent, she was born in Melbourne but is best known fo ...

(St Mary of the Cross)) located in

Shirley Shirley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë * ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film * ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American film * ''Shirley'' (album), a 1961 album by Shirley Bas ...

(founded in 1949 by 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 Sist ...

). Both schools provided boarding and day facilities.Diane Strevens, ''MacKillop Women: The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart Aotearoa New Zealand 1883–2006'', David Ling, Auckland, 2008, p. 230. The Catholic Bishop of Christchurch is the proprietor of the college.

History

It was decided to merge these schools into a larger Catholic secondary day school for girls which would be an integrated school under the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act 1975 and to develop it on the McKillop College site in North Parade. Marian College was officially opened on 25 March 1982, the feast of the

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

of the Lord. The first principal was Sister Eleanor Capper RSJ who left in 1996. In the subsequent 30 years, Marian College extended its facilities to include an assembly hall/gymnasium, a music suite, library, technology rooms’ and new classrooms. The oldest building was the administration block, which was built in 1914 by a Doctor Louisson and used as a family residence, until it was sold to the Sisters of St Joseph in 1949.

2010–2011 Canterbury earthquakes

Because of the effects of the

2010 Canterbury earthquake The 2010 Canterbury earthquake (also known as the Darfield earthquake) struck the South Island of New Zealand with a moment magnitude of 7.1 at on , and had a maximum perceived intensity of X (''Extreme'') on the Mercalli intensity scale. Som ...

and the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...

, the school was relocated for the 2011 school year to

St Bede's College, Christchurch St. Bede's College is a state integrated Roman Catholic day and boarding school in Christchurch, New Zealand, for boys aged 12 (Year 9) to 18 (Year 13). St. Bede's is the oldest Roman Catholic Boys' College in New Zealand's South Island. It is ...

. There was also some cooperation with

Shirley Boys' High School Shirley Boys' High School (known as SBHS) is a single sex state (public) secondary school in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was originally situated on a 6 hectare site in the suburb of Shirley, but in April 2019 moved, along with Avonside ...

which was near the school. As a result of the February earthquake and the

June 2011 Christchurch earthquake The June 2011 Christchurch earthquake was a shallow magnitude 6.0 earthquake that occurred on 13 June 2011 at 14:20 NZST (02:20 UTC). It was centred at a Hypocenter, depth of , about 5 km (3 mi) south-east of Christchurch, which had p ...

significant

liquefaction In materials science, liquefaction is a process that generates a liquid from a solid or a gas or that generates a non-liquid phase which behaves in accordance with fluid dynamics. It occurs both naturally and artificially. As an example of the ...

occurred on the College site resulting in most buildings suffering differential settlement in many areas of up to 215mm. It was therefore decided to relocate the school to the site of

Catholic Cathedral College Catholic Cathedral College is an integrated Catholic co-educational secondary school in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1987 but its origins go back to more than a 119 years earlier. The college is an amalgamation of two schools: Sa ...

(where there was sufficient surplus capacity to accommodate the school) at 122 Barbadoes Street at the beginning of the 2012 school year. Initially, the College was expected to be accommodated for a period of two to four years. On 15 March 2019, Marian College announced the site for a new location on Lydia Street in Northcote, to be opened in 2023.Marian College, Newsletter 15 March 2019
(retrieved 28 March 2019)

References

Sources

* Mary Declan Burke RSM, ''Mercy through the years : the centennial history of the Sisters of Mercy, Christchurch Diocese, 1878–1978'', Sisters of Mercy Trust Board, Christchurch, 1978. * ''St. Mary's Schools Christchurch, 1894–1994: A history published for the centennial jubilee, September 1994'', St Mary's School, Christchurch, 1994. * ''A Century in pictures : the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart in New Zealand, 1883–1983'', Catholic Publications Centre for the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, Auckland, 1983. * Anne Marie Power R.S.J., ''Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart : New Zealand story, 1883–1997'', The Sisters, Auckland, 1997. * Diane Strevens, ''MacKillop Women: The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart Aotearoa New Zealand 1883–2006'', David Ling, Auckland, 2008. * Michael O'Meeghan S.M., ''Held firm by faith : a history of the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch, 1840–1987'', Catholic Diocese of Christchurch, Christchurch, 1988. * Michael King, ''God's farthest outpost : a history of Catholics in New Zealand'', Viking, Auckland 1997. {{DEFAULTSORT:Marian College, Christchurch Secondary schools in Christchurch Educational institutions established in 1982 Girls' schools in New Zealand Catholic secondary schools in Christchurch 1982 establishments in New Zealand