Verdon College is a co-educational
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
high school in
Invercargill
Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...
, New Zealand, teaching students from year 7 to 15 (ages 11–18). The college is named after
Bishop Michael Verdon (1838–1918) who was the second Catholic Bishop of
Dunedin
Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...
(1896–1918). It has the highest rate of achievement in NCEA results for secondary schools in Invercargill city.
In 2021, 97.1% of Year 11 students achieved NCEA Level 1, 90.3% of Year 12 students achieved NCEA Level 2, and 55.3% of Year 13 students achieved NCEA Level 3. In 2020, 14 students were given at least on
Vocational Pathway Award
History
Verdon College is a co-educational
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
secondary school, created after an amalgamation in 1981 of Saint Catherine's College (single-sex high school for girls operated by the
Dominican Sisters
The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...
) and Marist College (single-sex high school for boys operated by the
Marist Brothers
The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic religious institute of brothers. In 1817, St. Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from France, founded the Marist Brothe ...
). The Marist College site (which became Verdon College) was built on former farmland at the eastern boundary of Invercargill and opened in 1969. The new combined Catholic high school was named after Bishop Verdon. Since the schools growth parts of the school are located on what used to be Cargill High and
Te Wharekura o Arowhenua.
Aerial Imagery
These images are of the Marist College now Verdon College site.
File:1946 aerial image of Verdon College site.jpg, 1946
File:1956 aerial image of Verdon College site.jpg, 1956
File:1962 aerial image of Verdon College site.jpg, 1962
File:1974 aerial image of Verdon College site.jpg, 1974
File:1981 aerial image of Verdon College site.jpg, 1981
File:1988 aerial image of Verdon College site.jpg, 1988
File:2005-2011 satellite image of Verdon College site.jpg, 2005-2011
File:2013-2014 satellite image of Verdon College.jpg, 2013-2014
File:2017 satellite image of Verdon College.jpg, 2017
File:Verdon College 2022.png, 2022
Bishop Verdon Block
In the mid-2000s, Verdon college acquired a gymnasium and a full-sized S68 design classroom block on the site of the former Cargill High School. A multimillion-dollar refurbishment of the acquired classroom block was completed in 2008 and named the Bishop Verdon Block, mainly for the year seven and eight students. It also contains two computer suites, a library, a science laboratory, and a study atrium.
Roll
As at 1 July 2022, the college has a current roll of 704 students. The school's ethnic composition contained NZ European/Pākehā 52%, Māori 28%, Pasifika 5.5%, Asian 13.3% and other ethnicities including MELAA1.2%.
Verdon has a higher proportion of Māori, Pasifika and Asian students than the overall composition of the
Southland Southland may refer to:
Places Canada
* Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia
New Zealand
* Southland Region, a region of New Zealand
* Southland County, a former New Zealand county
* Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...
region.
The college offers a broad range of educational opportunities for student achievement in the areas of sport and culture as well as a diverse academic curriculum.
Cultural Activities
![20180521 082256 Richtone(HDR)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/20180521_082256_Richtone%28HDR%29.jpg)
*Bishop's Shield – Inter-school debating, scripture reading, public speaking and drama. They compete against the other Catholic schools in the Dunedin Diocese:
St. Kevin's, Oamaru,
Kavanagh College, Dunedin, and
St Peter's College, Gore.
*Inter-house Choir – Houses compete to win house points by performing a set song, as well as a song of their choice.
*Inter-house Drama – Competitions are held each year for the best drama performance from each house, with house points going to the winning house.
*Inter-house Haka – Each house performs the school haka, as well as a set song and a chosen waiata for house points. The 2022 competition is available to watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFQPZ3ybdnI
*Inter-house Lip Sync – Junior (year 7–10) students from each house choreograph and perform a dance routine to a song of their choice. As the competition is held in the second last week of the Junior school year, the winning performers house receives house points that are carried onto the next year.
*Music Festival – Students compete in various Junior/Senior categories including: Vocals, Instrumental and Group
*Production –
**
Back to the 80s (musical)
''Back to the 80's'' is a musical written by Neil Gooding with the original musical adaption made by Scott Copeman. It was later re-orchestrated and arranged by Brett Foster in 1999, just prior to the Australian Production. It was originally sta ...
was performed in 2017.
**
Saturday Night Fever (musical)
''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1998 jukebox musical based on the 1977 film ''Saturday Night Fever''. Its book is by Nan Knighton (in collaboration with Arlene Phillips, Paul Nicholas, and Robert Stigwood), and the songs mostly consist of songs tha ...
was performed in 2018.
**
All Shook Up (musical)
''All Shook Up'' is a 2004 American jukebox musical with music from the Elvis Presley songbook and with a book by Joe DiPietro. The musical premiered on Broadway in 2005.
Production history
The musical had a developmental staging at the Goodspee ...
was performed in 2019.
**
School of Rock (musical)
''School of Rock'' is a rock musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Glenn Slater and a book by Julian Fellowes. Based on the 2003 film of the same name, written by Mike White, the musical follows Dewey Finn, an out-of-work rock ...
was to be performed in 2020, however due to the impact of
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
the production was performed in 2021.
**In 2022, a mash-up of previous productions and other famous Broadway musicals such as
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat were performed.
Sheilah Winn Shakespeare Festival– Each year, a number of students are selected to perform in the regional competition (Southland) against other schools in the area.
Other regional and national competitions that students compete in are:
* Chamber Music Festival
* ILT Southland Secondary Schools' Jazz Fest
*
Rock Quest
* Sound Quest
* Southern Jam Youth Jazz Festival
Sport
Sporting activities
*House Athletics Day – Interhouse athletics competition where houses compete for house points.
*Southland-Wide Under 18 Competition – Verdon competes with other Southland secondary school First XV rugby teams in a competition spanning from April until August. Notable competition wins include the 2012 in which Verdon beat St Peter's College 15–12 in the final.
*New Zealand Secondary Schools Netball – The Verdon Senior A Netball team are regular participants at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Netball competition and have won the nationwide tournament twice.
*Quad Tournament – Verdon competes in an annual tournament weekend with
St Peter's College,
Kavanagh College
, motto_translation = With Her As Our Guide
, type = State-integrated secondary
, established = 1989; years ago (antecedent secondary schools: 1871, 1876, 1878, 1897 and 1976)
, streetaddress ...
,
St Kevin's College and
Roncalli College. Verdon has yet to have won a tournament weekend so far. There are both senior and junior tournaments, both at opposite ends of the winter season.
*Swimming sports – Every year, students compete in various water sports for house points.
*Year 12 vs Year 13
Rugby League
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...
– Each year, the two year groups battle for the unofficial title of the winners of the League Cup. This event is organised by the students.
Sports offered at the college
Verdon offers many sporting opportunities for the students, such as:
* Badminton
* Basketball
* Cricket
* Cycling
* Dance
* Football
* Futsal
* Hockey
* Indoor Bowls
* Netball
* Rugby
* Softball
* Squash
* Volleyball
* Waterpolo
Notable students
Ex-pupils of Verdon College or its predecessor schools, St Catherine's College and Marist College.
*
Dion Bates – Current
Southland Stags
Rugby Southland (formerly the Southland Rugby Football Union) is the provincial rugby union who govern the Southland region of New Zealand. Their headquarters are at Rugby Park Stadium in Invercargill, which is also the home ground of the unio ...
rugby union player.
*
Dan Buckingham – Olympic Paralympian athlete.
*
John Burke (born 1946) – former mayor of
Porirua City
Porirua, ( mi, Pari-ā-Rua) a city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Porirua' is a corruption of 'Pari-rua', meaning "the tide s ...
(Marist)
*
Colin Campbell Colin may refer to:
* Colin (given name)
* Colin (surname)
* ''Colin'' (film), a 2008 Cannes film festival zombie movie
* Colin (horse) (1905–1932), thoroughbred racehorse
* Colin (humpback whale), a humpback whale calf abandoned north of Sydney, ...
(born 1941) -
Roman Catholic Bishop of Dunedin (2004–2018) (Marist)
*
Dan Davin
Daniel Marcus Davin (1 September 1913 – 28 September 1990), generally known as Dan Davin, was an author who wrote about New Zealand, although for most of his career he lived in Oxford, England, working for Oxford University Press. The themes o ...
(1913-1990) – soldier, writer, publisher (Marist)
*
Aliyah Dunn –
New Zealand netball international
*
Wendy Frew
Wendy Frew (née Telfer; born 15 October 1984 in Invercargill, New Zealand) is a New Zealand netball player. Frew was a previous member of the champion Southern Sting in the National Bank Cup from 2002 until 2007. With the start of the ANZ Cham ...
–
New Zealand netball international
*
Jess Hamill
Jessica Helen Gillan ( Hamill, born 20 July 1990) is a New Zealand paralympic athlete and shotputter. She represented New Zealand at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing and the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, the latter where she ...
– New Zealand
Paralympics competitor and
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...
shot put silver medalist.
*
Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit
Te Huinga Reo Selby-Rickit is a former New Zealand netball international. She was a member of the New Zealand teams that won the 2010, 2012 and 2013 Fast5 Netball World Series'. During the National Bank Cup era, she played for Western Flyers a ...
–
New Zealand netball international
*
Tom Scully
Tom Scully (born 15 May 1991) is a former professional Australian rules footballer. He played for the Melbourne Football Club, Greater Western Sydney Giants, and Hawthorn Football Club. A star midfielder at junior level, Scully was originally s ...
– Professional cyclist.
* Douglas Sekone-Fraser – 2009 New Zealand Weightlifting Champion, Silver and Bronze in 2011 for the New Zealand Weightlifting Championships and 16th in the Junior World Championships.
*
Hua Tamariki
Hua or HUA may refer to:
China
* Hua, as in Huaxia and Zhonghua, a name of China
** Hoa people, Chinese people in Vietnam
* Hua (state), a state in ancient China, destroyed by Qin
* Hua (surname), a Chinese surname
* Hua County, in Anyang, Hena ...
–
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
player
Stephen McDowell– Creative director and content creator o
Buzzy Kiwi and also was the runner-up to
The Apprentice Aotearoa
''The Apprentice Aotearoa'' is a New Zealand reality television series currently airing on TVNZ 1 started on 10 May 2021. It featured Mike Pero as the CEO. The winner received NZ$50,000 and one-on-one mentoring with Pero. The advisors are Cassi ...
in 2021.
Notes
:1.MELAA is defined by Statistics New Zealand as Middle Eastern, Latin American and African.
References
Sources
* Pat Gallager, ''The Marist Brothers in New Zealand Fiji & Samoa 1876–1976'', New Zealand Marist Brothers' Trust Board, Tuakau, 1976.
{{refend
Educational institutions established in 1982
Schools in Invercargill
Catholic secondary schools in New Zealand
Secondary schools in Southland, New Zealand
1982 establishments in New Zealand