St Margaret's College is an independent girls' school in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, New Zealand, founded on Anglican Christian values. It offers the dual academic pathway of NCEA and

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

History

The school was established in 1910 on the initiative of

Bishop Julius Churchill Julius (15 October 1847 – 1 September 1938) was an Anglican cleric in England, then in Australia and New Zealand, becoming the first Archbishop of New Zealand. Biography Julius was born at Richmond, London, Richmond, London in 1847 ...

of the

Anglican Diocese of Christchurch The Diocese of Christchurch is one of the thirteen dioceses and ''hui amorangi'' (Māori bishoprics) of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. The Diocese covers the area between the Conway River and the Waitaki River in th ...

, who invited the Kilburn, England-based

Sisters of the Church The Community of the Sisters of the Church is a religious order of women in various Anglican provinces who live the vowed life of poverty, chastity and obedience. In 2012 the order had 105 sisters living in community, together with an extensive n ...

Order to set up the school. The school was initially located in the

Christchurch Central City Christchurch Central City or Christchurch City Centre is the geographical centre and the heart of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is defined as the area within the Four Avenues (Bealey Avenue, Fitzgerald Avenue, Moorhouse Avenue and Deans Aven ...

south of Armagh Street, where it opened on 8 February 1910. In 1914, the school moved slightly north to Chester Street West off

Cranmer Square Cranmer Square is an urban park in central Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located northwest of the city's centre, Cathedral Square. The major arterial route of Montreal Street skirts the edge of the square. The square (actually a rectangle) i ...

, and that building is now part of the

Cathedral Grammar School The Cathedral Grammar School is an independent, Anglican preparatory day school in Christchurch, New Zealand. The school is situated on a site covering two blocks in mid-Christchurch next to the Avon River and adjacent to Hagley Park, which it ...

. St Margaret's opened a prep school on Papanui Road in the early 1920s, just north of the current school grounds. In the 1940s, the current grounds were occupied. On that site, the school had been using an 1880 homestead as a boarding house since 1922. In 1941, this building was renamed Kilburn House. In the

2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time, local time (23:51 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the Canterbury Region ...

, Kilburn House was damaged. After NZ$2 million repairs, Kilburn House opened again in August 2012. The school received a commendation from the Christchurch Civic Trust for the renovation of this heritage building. This renovation was part of a significant rebuild project following the earthquakes when the school lost close to 90% of its buildings.

St Margaret's College today

St Margaret's College is the only girls' school in the South Island of New Zealand to offer the

Diploma in addition to NCEA. It is divided into three schools: * Junior School ''(Years 1–6)'' * Middle School ''(Years 7–10)'' * Senior School ''(Years 11–13)'' Boarding ''(Years 7–13)'' St Margaret's College has over 90 years of boarding history. Currently 150 girls are in three boarding houses, arranged in year groups and structured to the specific needs of each developmental stage.

Enrolment

As a private school, St Margaret's College charges tuition fees to cover costs. For the 2025 school year, tuition fees for New Zealand residents are $18,210 per year for students in years 1 to 3, $23,200 per year for students in years 4 to 6, $27,050 per year for students in years 7 and 8, and $30,420 per year for students in years 9 to 13. Boarding fees are an additional $18,795 per year. As of , St Margaret's College has roll of students, of which (%) identify as Māori. As a private school, the school is not assigned 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 ...

Notable alumnae

Arihia Bennett Arihia Darryl Bennett (née Ruwhiu) is a New Zealand Māori leader. She was the chief executive officer of Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu in New Zealand's South Island for almost 12 years, resigning the position in 2024. She is a member of Ngāi Tah ...

– first female CEO of Te Rūnanga o

Ngāi Tahu Ngāi Tahu, or Kāi Tahu, is the principal Māori people, Māori (tribe) of the South Island. Its (tribal area) is the largest in New Zealand, and extends from the White Bluffs / Te Parinui o Whiti (southeast of Blenheim, New Zealand, Blenhe ...

* Marjorie Chambers (1906–1989) – senior nurse *

Natalia Zotov Natalia Victorovna Zotov was a physicist and mathematician who combined an academic career with religious life as a nun. She published many papers in theoretical and statistical cosmology. Early life and education Zotov was born in Karori, Wel ...

(born 1942), cosmologist specialising in

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* Peri Drysdale (born 1954) – founder of the Snowy Peak and Untouched World brands * Ella Greenslade (born 1997) – rower *

Anna Harrison Anna Tuthill Harrison ( ''née'' Symmes; July 25, 1775 – February 25, 1864) was the first lady of the United States in 1841 as the wife of President William Henry Harrison. She served in the role for only one month, as her husband contracted p ...

(born 1983) – former New Zealand netball international. * Eileen Keys (1903–1992) – potter *

Olivia Loe Olivia Loe (born 15 January 1992) is a New Zealand representative rower. She is a two-time world champion in the double scull and is the incumbent world champion winning gold at the 2019 World Rowing Championships with Brooke Donoghue. She has ...

(born 1992) – rower *

Ngaio Marsh Dame Edith Ngaio Marsh ( ; 23 April 1895 – 18 February 1982) was a New Zealand mystery writer, writer. As a crime writer during the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", Marsh is known as one of the Detective fiction#Golden Age detective novel ...

(1895–1982) – writer * Mary Ruddock (1895–1969) – fashion designer and businesswoman *

Amy Satterthwaite Amy Ella Satterthwaite (born 7 October 1986) is a New Zealand former cricketer who played as an all-rounder, batting left-handed and bowling either right-arm medium or off break. She appeared in 145 One Day Internationals and 111 Twenty20 In ...

(born 1986) –

White Ferns The New Zealand women's national cricket team, nicknamed the White Ferns, represents New Zealand in international women's cricket. One of eight teams competing in the ICC Women's Championship (the highest level of international women's cricket ...

cricketer *

Julie Seymour Julie Seymour (née Dawson; born 29 March 1971) is a New Zealand netball coach, former international netball player and former representative middle distance runner. Seymour played for the New Zealand national netball team, the Silver Ferns, in ...

(born 1971) –

Silver Ferns The New Zealand national netball team, commonly known as the Silver Ferns ( or ), represent Netball New Zealand in international netball tournaments such as the Netball World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the Taini Jamison Trophy, the Constell ...

captain *

Nicky Wagner Nicola Joanne Wagner (born 23 July 1953) is a former New Zealand politician. After a career in teaching and business, she was a National Party member of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2005 to 2020, when she retired. Wagner repr ...

(born 1953) – former MP

References

External links