Selwyn College, Auckland
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Selwyn College () is a
co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...
state secondary school in
Kohimarama Kohimarama is a coastal residential Auckland suburb, located to the east of the city. Kohimarama is situated between Mission Bay and St Heliers and has an accessible beach with a boardwalk and green recreational spaces located amongst reside ...
,
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.


History

Selwyn College was built in 1956 to service Auckland's rapidly growing suburban sprawl during the post-war population boom and newly developed areas such as MeadowbankSt. Johns and
Kohimarama Kohimarama is a coastal residential Auckland suburb, located to the east of the city. Kohimarama is situated between Mission Bay and St Heliers and has an accessible beach with a boardwalk and green recreational spaces located amongst reside ...
Ōrākei Ōrākei is a suburb of Auckland city, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on a peninsula five kilometres to the east of the city centre, on the shore of the Waitematā Harbour, which lies to the north, and Hobson Bay and Ōr ...
. Its founding principal was Ngata Pitcaithly. As a multi-cultural school in the eastern suburbs area, Selwyn values its historic connections with
Ngāti Whātua-o-Ōrākei Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...
. The college has an annual full-school term-one musical, and other theatrical productions throughout the year. Selwyn has one of the largest theatres in a New Zealand public school. Selwyn also holds an annual multicultural show, featuring performances from the many ethnic and cultural groups represented in the school's community. Selwyn has featured in the media as the school that educated the refugees who arrived in New Zealand following the
Tampa affair In late August 2001, the Howard government of Australia refused permission for the Norwegian freighter MV ''Tampa'', carrying 433 rescued refugees (predominantly Hazaras of Afghanistan from a distressed fishing vessel in international waters ...
in 2001. The school runs a Refugee Education for Adults and Families programme (REAF), providing classes for adult former refugees. Part of the success of the programme is because of the onsite Carol White Family Centre, opened in 2004. In 2002, Selwyn College hosted the filming of a popular
TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso * Canal 3 Niger, a commercial television channel in Niger * Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala * Can ...
television documentary series called ''School Rules'' which followed the lives of several of its students. On the occasion of the school's 50th anniversary,
Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand (), commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public service broadcaster and Crown entity. Established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, it operates news and current affairs station, RNZ National, and a classi ...
broadcast a programme surveying the high-profile success of the many musicians who had attended the school. Prior to the appointment of Sheryll Ofner as principal in 2008, Selwyn College experienced a tumultuous few years as some local residents and the local MP
Allan Peachey Allan Frederick Peachey (18 October 1949 – 6 November 2011) was a New Zealand politician and Member of Parliament for Tamaki. School principal Peachey completed a Master's degree in history at the University of Canterbury in 1972, supervised ...
criticised the school for its falling roll and alleged academic and disciplinary failures. Other members of the school community, parents, teachers and students fiercely defended the school in the face of what they saw as unfair criticisms. Peachey was forced to apologise publicly for sending an offensive email to the then co-principal, Carol White. The Government dissolved Selwyn's Board of Trustees and replaced it with a commissioner on 20 January 2009, due to longstanding differences between board members and some members of the local community. Some level of stability has been restored to the school in later 2009 as the new administration has consolidated itself. A new uniform has been introduced to help 'rebrand' the school. Academic results, while never as bad as the school's critics made out, have noticeably improved since 2008, with a Selwyn year 12 pupil topping New Zealand in one of the 2009 Cambridge International AS Level Examinations. Following a range of changes, the school had a significant shift in results, lifting the NCEA Level 1 pass rate from 39% to 93% in seven years. In 2013, pass rates had risen to 93% in Level 1, 94% in Level 2 and 90% in Level 3. Education Professor John Hattie described the progress as "stunning" and an example of "what can happen with inspired, passionate leadership with a laser focus on students". In 2016, the principal Sheryll Ofner won the 2017 Woolf Fisher Award for Education and Excellence which included an 11 week trip to
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
and across Europe. On 16 September 2016 four Selwyn College students had won the Auckland Schools Debating Advanced Open Competition. The school is home to the Barfoot & Thompson Stadium, where numerous local, national and international sporting events are held.


Enrolment

In 2014, the roll was 802, 53% of whom were male, and 47% female. 31 were international students. The ethnic make-up of the school was: 32% European, 17%
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 Co ...
, 13% Pasifika, 10%
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
n, 5% Chinese, 4%
Arab Arabs (,  , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...
, 3% Indian, 2% African, 2%
Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...
, and 1% "other ethnicity". Selwyn was last visited by the
Education Review Office The Education Review Office (ERO; ) 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 schools and early childhood services. Leader ...
in November 2019. As of , Selwyn College has a roll of students, of which (%) identify as Māori. As of , the school has an
Equity Index In finance, a stock index, or stock market index, is an index that measures the performance of a stock market, or of a subset of a stock market. It helps investors compare current stock price levels with past prices to calculate market perform ...
of , placing it amongst schools whose students have socioeconomic barriers to achievement (roughly equivalent to deciles 8 and 9 under the former
socio-economic decile In the education in New Zealand, New Zealand education system, decile was a key measure of socioeconomic status used to target funding and support schools. In academic contexts the full term "socioeconomic decile" or "socioeconomic decile band" wa ...
system).


Alumni

Notable alumni include: *MP Dr Jackie Blue *Academic Damon Salesa – appointed Vice Chancellor of
Auckland University of Technology Auckland University of Technology ( AUT; ) is a university in New Zealand, formed on 1 January 2000 when a former technical college (originally established in 1895) was granted university status. AUT is New Zealand's third largest university i ...
in 2021. *Academic Alexandra Brewis Slade *Actor
Danielle Cormack Danielle Cormack (born 26 December 1970 )is a New Zealand stage and screen actress. She was one of the original cast members of the long-running soap opera ''Shortland Street'', though she is also known for her role as the Amazon Ephiny in th ...
*Actor
Angela Dotchin Angela Marie Dotchin (born 31 March 1974 in Auckland) is a retired actress best most known for her roles as Kirsty Knight in ''Shortland Street'', and as Emilia Rothschild in ''Jack of All Trades'' and for starring as Kora on '' Young Hercules' ...
*Chess Player Martin Dreyer *Musician
Liam Finn Liam Mullane Finn (born 24 September 1983) is a New Zealand singer and musician. Born in Melbourne, Australia, he moved to New Zealand as a child. He is the son of musicians Sharon (Johnson) and Neil Finn. In 2020, he joined his father's band ...
*Author Charlotte Grimshaw *Author Pip Adam *Entrepreneur Derek Handley *Stuntwoman/Actress
Zoë Bell Zoë E. Bell (born 17 November 1978) is a New Zealand Stunt performer, stuntwoman and actress. Some of her most notable stunt-work includes doubling for Lucy Lawless in ''Xena: Warrior Princess'' and for Uma Thurman in ''Kill Bill''. As an act ...
*Former All Blacks Captain Andy Dalton (rugby union) *Footballer Alex Paulsen *Boxing Promoter David Higgins *Musicians Murray Grindlay and Neil Edwards (The Underdogs/ Monte Video/ The Human Instinct) *Musicians Nigel Russell and Nick Hanson ( The Spelling Mistakes) *Musicians Otis 'OJ' Frizzell and Mark 'Slave' Williams ( MC OJ & Rhythm Slave) *Semi Lemon Kola/Propeller bandmembers Derryk 'D-Rawk' Hunt, Robert Young and artist Gareth Price ( Augustino) *Musicians Chris Familton, Antony McDonald and Blair McDonald (Thorazine Shuffle) *Musician Isaac Tucker (Cuba & Gizmo, Loungehead, Spektrum) *Musicians Ben Sciascia, Karl Steven, Tim Stewart and Nick Atkinson ( Supergroove) *Musician Ned Ngatae aka Killamanraro (
Trinity Roots TrinityRoots are a band based in Wellington, New Zealand. Although they are commonly associated with New Zealand reggae they also embody a stripped back, jazz and Soul music, soul-influenced rhythmic sound, which often builds up to highly emot ...
/Sola Rosa/
Dimmer A dimmer is a device connected to a light fixture and used to lower the brightness of the Lighting, light. By changing the voltage waveform applied to the lamp, it is possible to lower the Luminous intensity, intensity of the light output. Al ...
/
Fat Freddy's Drop Fat Freddy's Drop is a New Zealand seven-piece band from Wellington, whose musical style has been characterised as any combination of dub, reggae, soul, jazz, rhythm and blues, and techno. Originally a jam band formed in the late 1990s by mus ...
) *Musician Kirsten Morrell, lead singer of Goldenhorse


References


External links

* {{Schools in Auckland Educational institutions established in 1956 Secondary schools in Auckland 1956 establishments in New Zealand