Western Springs College ( mi, Nga Puna O Waiorea) is a state co-educational secondary school located in Western Springs, an inner suburb of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The school educates approximately students, from Years 9 to 13 (ages 13 to 18). The school was originally part of Seddon Memorial Technical College, but was moved to the current Western Springs site in 1964.

History

The school was originally called Seddon Memorial Technical College even after being resited to Motions Rd till 1968 when renamed Seddon High school.. In November 1989, it opened its doors for the first 400 people, 10% of which were Māori. In 1995, the school had established a Māori language immersion unit called a Rūmaki, and brought another 200 students.

Facilities

The Auckland Performing Arts Centre (TAPAC) is located, within the school grounds.

Uniform

The school is one of few in the Auckland area to have no formal uniform. The school sees the development of sensible attitudes towards dress and appearance as part of the education process and tidy dress standards, as an enforced part of the education system. However, the Rumaki unit has set of uniform for both male and female students, but only on formal occasions such as a pōwhiri, or prizegiving do they wear it.

Houses

The school consists of five houses: *Atea (Red), meaning Wind or Air *Moana (Blue), meaning Ocean *Whenua (Green), meaning Land *Kapura (Yellow), meaning Fire *Oranga (Purple), meaning Life

Enrollment and donation

The school operates an enrollment zone which entitles students residing within the zone to enroll at the school. Students from outside the zone may be admitted through a ballot system. A voluntary donation to cover costs is requested at the time of enrollment.

Academic achievement

The results from the school's 2005 NCEA examinations placed it as the top decile 7 school for NCEA Level 1. The school is strong in debating, with both teams in the final of the 2005 Auckland Senior Debating competition representing Western Springs College. The school is also strong in

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of ...

. The school won an award this year, in the 2018 Spoken Word Grand Slam Final. The victors are: Manaia Tuwhare-Hoani, Arihia Hall, Matariki Bennett and Terina Wichman-Evans. In 2015, Mercy Williams of Western Springs College had won $500 at the Play It Strange Wero Songwriting Competition for her song, ''Embrace the Day''.

Demographics and rankings

Last visited by

Education Review Office The Education Review Office (ERO) (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 ...

(ERO) on 19 June 2015. The next review is due in 4–5 years (2019-2020). Western Springs College had 1500 students enrolled. Fifty-six percent of students were male, and 44% were female. Fifty-five percent identified themselves as

New Zealand European European New Zealanders, also known by the Māori-language loanword Pākehā, are New Zealanders of European descent. Most European New Zealanders are of British and Irish ancestry, with significantly smaller percentages of other European a ...

, 27% identified as Māori, 3% as

Samoans Samoans or Samoan people ( sm, tagata Sāmoa) are the indigenous Polynesian people of the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in Polynesia, who speak the Samoan language. The group's home islands are politically and geographically divided between t ...

, 2% as

Cook Islanders Cook Islanders are residents of the Cook Islands, which is composed of 15 islands and atolls in Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean. Cook Islands Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of the Cook Islands, although more Cook Islands Māori cur ...

, 1% as

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

n and

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

and 14% Asian. The school also has 107 international students who come from Brazil, Chile, China, Japan, Korea, and Thailand. In 2016, the school was the top-ranked school for both boys and girls, by the ''

Metro Magazine ''Metro Magazine'' is a trade magazine for bus and rail transit and motorcoach operators, published in the United States since 1904, taking its current name in 1975.Di Giacomo, Frank. "100 years of deadlines". ''Metro Magazine'', July 2004, p. 4. ...

''.

Notable alumni

Che Fu Che Kuo Eruera Ness (born 1974), better known by his stage name Che Fu, is a New Zealand hip hop, R&B and reggae artist, songwriter and producer. A founding member of the band Supergroove, as a solo artist he has gone on to sell thousands of ...

Joel Little Joel Little (born 13 February 1983) is a New Zealand record producer, musician and Grammy Award-winning songwriter.

Nesian Mystik Nesian Mystik was a New Zealand hip-hop/ R&B group which formed in 1999. The cultural backgrounds of its members united a remarkable diversity of Polynesia by bringing together Cook Island, Tongan, Samoan and Maori ancestry. As well as pro ...

* Courtney Sina Meredith *

Supergroove Supergroove is a New Zealand funk rock music group. Their debut album '' Traction'' was released in 1994. The group disbanded in 1997 but reformed in 2007. History The band was founded on New Year's Eve 1989/1990, having previously been name ...

References

External links

Official school website
{{Authority control Secondary schools in Auckland