Marian College, Christchurch was founded in 1982 with the merging of two Catholic secondary schools for girls, St Mary's College (

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...

, established in

Colombo Street Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial Capital city, capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limit ...

in 1893) and McKillop College (named for

Mary MacKillop Mary Helen MacKillop RSJ ( in religion Mary of the Cross; 15 January 1842 – 8 August 1909) was an Australian religious sister. She was born in Melbourne but is best known for her activities in South Australia. Together with Fr Julian Teniso ...

(St Mary of the Cross)) located in

Shirley Shirley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë * ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film * ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American biographical film about Shirley Jackson * ''Shirley'' ( ...

(founded in 1949 by the

Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, often called the Josephites or Brown Joeys, are a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Mary MacKillop (1842–1909). Members of the congregation use the postnominal initials RSJ (Religious Sis ...

). Both schools provided boarding and day facilities.Diane Strevens, ''MacKillop Women: The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart Aotearoa New Zealand 1883–2006'', David Ling, Auckland, 2008, p. 230. The Catholic Bishop of Christchurch is the proprietor of the college.

History

It was decided to merge these schools into a larger Catholic secondary day school for girls which would be an integrated school under the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act 1975 and to develop it on the McKillop College site in North Parade. Marian College was officially opened on 25 March 1982, the feast of the

Annunciation The Annunciation (; ; also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord; ) is, according to the Gospel of Luke, the announcement made by the archangel Gabriel to Ma ...

of the Lord. The first principal was Sister Eleanor Capper RSJ who left in 1996. In the subsequent 30 years, Marian College extended its facilities to include an assembly hall/gymnasium, a music suite, library, technology rooms’ and new classrooms. The oldest building was the administration block, which was built in 1914 by a Doctor Louisson and used as a family residence, until it was sold to the Sisters of St Joseph in 1949.

2010–2011 Canterbury earthquakes

Because of the effects of the

2010 Canterbury earthquake The 2010 Canterbury earthquake (also known as the Darfield earthquake) struck the South Island of New Zealand with a moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.1 at on , and had a maximum perceived intensity of X (''Extreme'') on the Mercal ...

and 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 ...

, the school was relocated for the 2011 school year to

St Bede's College, Christchurch St. Bede's College is an State-integrated school, integrated Roman Catholic day school, day and boarding school in Christchurch, New Zealand, for boys aged 12 (Year 9) to 18 (Year 13). St. Bede's is the oldest Roman Catholic Boys' College in N ...

. There was also some cooperation with

Shirley Boys' High School Shirley Boys' High School (), also known as SBHS, is a single sex state (public) secondary school in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was originally situated on a 6 hectare site in the suburb of Shirley, but in April 2019 moved, along with Av ...

which was near the school. As a result of the February earthquake and the

June 2011 Christchurch earthquake The June 2011 Christchurch earthquake was a shallow magnitude 6.0 earthquake that occurred on 13 June 2011 at 14:20 NZST (02:20 UTC). It was centred at a Hypocenter, depth of , about 5 km (3 mi) south-east of Christchurch, which had ...

significant

liquefaction In materials science, liquefaction is a process that generates a liquid from a solid or a gas or that generates a non-liquid phase which behaves in accordance with fluid dynamics. It occurs both naturally and artificially. As an example of t ...

occurred on the College site resulting in most buildings suffering differential settlement in many areas of up to 215mm. It was therefore decided to relocate the school to the site of Catholic Cathedral College (where there was sufficient surplus capacity to accommodate the school) at 122 Barbadoes Street at the beginning of the 2012 school year. Initially, the College was expected to be accommodated for a period of two to four years. On 15 March 2019, Marian College announced the site for a new location on Lydia Street in Northcote. The school opened on the new site on 9 February 2024.

Enrolment

As of , Marian 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).

References

Sources

* Mary Declan Burke RSM, ''Mercy through the years : the centennial history of the Sisters of Mercy, Christchurch Diocese, 1878–1978'', Sisters of Mercy Trust Board, Christchurch, 1978. * ''St. Mary's Schools Christchurch, 1894–1994: A history published for the centennial jubilee, September 1994'', St Mary's School, Christchurch, 1994. * ''A Century in pictures : the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart in New Zealand, 1883–1983'', Catholic Publications Centre for the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, Auckland, 1983. * Anne Marie Power R.S.J., ''Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart : New Zealand story, 1883–1997'', The Sisters, Auckland, 1997. * Diane Strevens, ''MacKillop Women: The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart Aotearoa New Zealand 1883–2006'', David Ling, Auckland, 2008. * Michael O'Meeghan S.M., ''Held firm by faith : a history of the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch, 1840–1987'', Catholic Diocese of Christchurch, Christchurch, 1988. * Michael King, ''God's farthest outpost : a history of Catholics in New Zealand'', Viking, Auckland 1997. {{DEFAULTSORT:Marian College, Christchurch Secondary schools in Christchurch Educational institutions established in 1982 Girls' schools in New Zealand Catholic secondary schools in Christchurch 1982 establishments in New Zealand