St Ignatius of Loyola Catholic College is a Catholic co-educational secondary school in the Jesuit tradition,Rowena Orejana, "Auckland diocese performs well despite Covid", ''NZ Catholic'', 24 May, 2021
(Retrieved 20 December 2021) located in Burtt Rd, Drury, Auckland, New Zealand.Education Counts
(Retrieved 20 December 2021)

Attributes

The college is a year 7 to 13 co-educational school. The school's proprietor is the Catholic Bishop of Auckland and it is a

State-integrated school In New Zealand, a state-integrated school is a former private school which has integrated into the state education system under the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act 1975, becoming a state school while retaining its special character. ...

. The college commenced operations on 7 February 2024 with 340 students (years 7 to 9), and intended to grow progressively to 900 by 2028. The establishment of the school was the fruition of the long held dreams of building a school in the Jesuit tradition in service of the South Auckland community.Beth McConnell, "The power of community spirit and commitment", ''Australian Jesuits''
(Retrieved 14 December 2023) The college was the second Catholic school with an "Ignatian charism" founded in New Zealand. The first was St Aloysius College in Dunedin which opened in 1878 and closed in 1883. St Ignatius of Loyola Catholic College primarily aims to provide Catholic secondary education for students who attended Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School, Takanini, St Mary’s Catholic School, Papakura or St Joseph’s School, Pukekohe.

Funding

Part of the funding for the establishment of the school came from the Harold Plumley Endowment. Other sources of funding were a mixture of debt, land sales, and donations with final establishment cost being between $70m to $80m.Anne Gibson, "St Ignatius of Loyola Catholic College to open; Downtown Carpark alternative - Property Insider", ''Stuff News'', 5 December 2023
Retrieved 6 December 2023)

Appointments and development

The first principal of the college, Dean Wearmouth, was appointed in 2022 and the deputy principals, Kane Raukura and Catherine Bamber-O’Malley were appointed later in that year.School website
(Retrieved 23 April 2023) The planting of the campus commenced in 2022. Enrolments were called for the college's first year (2024) in early 2023 and closed at the end of March 2023 following a high demand for entrance into the school. The college opened with a Jesuit presence on the campus. Fr Michael Smith SJ and Fr Eka Tanaya SJ had been appointed and commenced their preparations in 2023. Father Tanaya was also appointed as a third deputy principal of the college. Father Smith worked part time at St Ignatius of Loyola College and part time at Holy Cross Seminary in Auckland. The school was designated as a Mass centre for its area.

Opening

The College was opened by Bishop Lowe of Auckland on 7th February, 2024 in the presence of local Iwi, supporters, friends, and students. A

Pōwhiri A pōwhiri (also called a pōhiri or pōwiri in some dialects) is a formal Māori culture, Māori welcoming ceremony onto a marae, involving speeches, cultural performance, singing and finally the ''hongi''. Traditionally, the was a way by whi ...

was led by representatives from Ngāti Te Ata Waiohua and

Ngāti Tamaoho Ngāti Tamaoho is a Māori iwi (tribe) of Auckland and the Waikato District of New Zealand. It is part of the Waiohua confederation of tribes. They have three marae, which are at Karaka, Mangatangi and Pukekohe. The tribe is a strong support ...

. A mass was celebrated and the classroom crosses and the Statue of St. Ignatius of Loyola were blessed and a ribbon was cut officially opening the college.

Increase

On Tuesday, 4th February, St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic College welcomed 130 new Year 7 ākonga (students) and staff with a formal Pōwhiri, conducted in accordance with

Tainui Tainui is a tribal waka (canoe), waka confederation of New Zealand Māori people, Māori iwi. The Tainui confederation comprises four principal related Māori iwi of the central North Island of New Zealand: Hauraki Māori, Hauraki, Ngāti Maniapo ...

tikanga. The roll consequently increased to more than 470 students. "Pōwhiri 2025", ''St Ignatius of Loyola Catholic College''
(Retrieved 12 February 2024)

References

External links

St Ignatius of Loyola Catholic College Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:St Ignatius Loyola Catholic College, Drury 2024 establishments in New Zealand Catholic secondary schools in Auckland Educational institutions established in 2024 Jesuit secondary schools in New Zealand Franklin Local Board Area