Samuel Marsden Collegiate School is a private composite girls school located in the

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

suburb of

Karori Karori is a suburb located at the western edge of the urban area of Wellington, New Zealand, 4 km from the city centre and is one of New Zealand's most populous suburbs, with a population of in History Origins The name ''Karori'' used ...

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 ...

. It has a

socio-economic decile In the New Zealand education system, decile is 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" may be used. A school's de ...

of 10 - on a scale from 1 to 10, 1 reflecting the lowest socioeconomic communities - and provides year one to 13 education for girls, with a co-educational pre-school. Its exam results rank consistently in the top schools in New Zealand. Samuel Marsden Collegiate School students complete the

National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA).

History

The school is named after the

Anglican Missionary Anglicanism is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Euro ...

Samuel Marsden Samuel Marsden (25 June 1765 – 12 May 1838) was an English-born priest of the Church of England in Australia and a prominent member of the Church Missionary Society, believed to have introduced Christianity to New Zealand. Marsden was a prom ...

. It was established in 1878 by Mrs Mary Ann Swainson as a day and boarding school for girls from Wellington and the surrounding areas. The school was originally known as the Fitzherbert Terrace School, and

Esther Mary Baber Esther Mary Baber (21 March 1871 – 19 November 1956) was a New Zealand headmistress. She was born in Christchurch, New Zealand on 21 March 1871. She ran the Fitzherbert Terrace School for many years, which later became the Samuel Marsden Coll ...

was for many years the headmistress. In 1920, the school was bought by the Anglican Diocese of Wellington, and moved to Karori in 1926. Samuel Marsden Collegiate has had 11 principals, only one of whom, Rev. Gerald Clark, has been male.

Present day

In January 2022 Paula Wells became Samuel Marsden Collegiate School's 13th Principal taking over from Narelle Umbers who returned to Melbourne after 4 years in the role. Previously the school was led by Jenny Williams until 2017 and before that Gillian Eadie, who retired in 2008. Marsden, as the school is often called, currently has around 500 students. In 2006 it was split from 3 to 4 'schools', the Marsden Primary (previously known as the Lower School), Middle School, Upper School and Senior School. Marsden now has five schools: Preschool, Marsden Primary, Middle School, Upper School and Senior School. In practice the latter three schools are treated as one, often just referred to as the 'upper school'. The upper school consists of six houses: Swainson-Riddiford, Baber, Hadfield-Beere, Richmond, Jellicoe and Johnson, all named after friends and benefactors of the school. Girls are placed in houses arbitrarily except when closely related to an old girl, in which case they are placed in the same house as their relative. The Lower School (Marsden Primary) has three separate houses, Sprott, Innes and Fitzherbert, again reflecting the school's history. The school was an early adopter of technology and won the New Zealand Computer Institutes Award for Excellence in the use of IT in Schools: Secondary and Primary in 2000.

Marsden Whitby

Established as Whitby Independent College in January 2004, on the site of the old Duck Creek Golf Course, the school was subsequently bought by Samuel Marsden Collegiate School in 2005 and renamed Marsden Whitby. Marsden Whitby's houses bear no relation to the long history of the Karori school. Instead carrying the nautical theme that the suburb of

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...

is known for - Endeavour, Resolution, Discovery and Adventure. Marsden Whitby also differed from the older school because it was the only independent

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 t ...

high school in the Wellington region. On 1 July 2019 Samuel Marsden Collegiate School Trust Board announced it had made the decision to close Marsden School Whitby at the end of the 2019 school year. On 9 August 2019 Fiso Group Ltd announced plans to acquire the school and rename it Whitby Collegiate with plans to start operating formally from the start of the school year in 2020. The sale of Marsden Whitby to Fiso Investment Group Ltd was finalised on 10 December 2019.

Notable alumnae

* Noeline Baker (1878–1958), suffragist, wartime women's labour administrator, gardener and peace educator *Lady

June Blundell June Daphne, Lady Blundell (née Halligan, 19 June 1922 – 31 October 2012) was the wife of Sir Denis Blundell, former Governor-General of New Zealand. She was known in her own right for her extensive community activism and welfare work. ...

(1922-2012), community activism and welfare work *

Vidyamala Burch Prudence Margaret Burch (born 1959), known professionally as Vidyamala Burch, is a mindfulness teacher, writer, and co-founder of Breathworks, an international mindfulness organization known particularly for developing mindfulness-based pain ma ...

(born 1959), mindfulness teacher *

Madeleine Chapman Madeleine Elsie Chapman (born 16 March 1994) is a New Zealand editor, journalist and author, and the current editor of ''The Spinoff'' and former editor of '' North & South''. Chapman co-wrote the autobiography of New Zealand professional basket ...

(born 1994), editor for ''

The Spinoff ''The Spinoff'' is a New Zealand online magazine and news website that was founded in 2014. It is known for current affairs coverage, political and social analysis, and cultural commentary. It earns money through commercial sponsorship and su ...

'' and '' North & South'', Samoan cricketer and javelin thrower * Anne Gambrill, New Zealand High Court judge *

Miranda Harcourt Miranda Catherine Millais Harcourt (born 1962) is a New Zealand actress and acting coach. Harcourt's acting career began playing boy characters on Radio New Zealand in the early 1970s. She is best known for her role as Gemma in the 1980s TV d ...

(born 1962), actress and acting coach * Dame

Bronwen Holdsworth Dame Bronwen Scott Holdsworth (née Pearson; born 13 September 1942) is a New Zealand businesswoman and arts patron from Gisborne, New Zealand. Private life Bronwen Scott Pearson was born in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1942. She received her s ...

(born 1943), businesswoman and arts patron * Sue Kedgley (born 1948), New Zealand politician, campaigner for women's affairs, environmental and community issues *

Shirley Maddock Shirley Frances Whitley Maddock (7 December 1928 – 10 October 2001) was a New Zealand television producer, producer, television presenter, author and actress. After early work in theatre and radio, she became a pioneering figure in early T ...

(1928-2001), New Zealand's first television news writer, first television interviewer and first female television producer *

Katherine Mansfield Kathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp; 14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a New Zealand writer, essayist and journalist, widely considered one of the most influential and important authors of the modernist movement. Her works are celebra ...

(1888-1923), prominent New Zealand modernist short story writer * Dr Diana Mason (1922–2007), obstetrician *

Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa Afioga Fiamē Naomi Mataafa (born 29 April 1957) () is a Samoan politician and High Chiefess ('' matai'') who has served as the seventh Prime Minister of Samoa and leader of the Faatuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi (FAST) party since 2021. Th ...

(born 1957),

Prime Minister of Samoa The prime minister of the Independent State of Samoa ( sm, Palemia o le Malo Tuto’atasi o Sāmoa) is the head of government of Samoa. The prime minister is a member of the Legislative Assembly, and is appointed by the O le Ao o le Malo (Hea ...

Thomasin McKenzie Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie (born 26 July 2000) is a New Zealand actress. After a minor role in '' The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies'' (2014), she rose to critical prominence after playing a young girl living in isolation in Debra Granik's d ...

(born 2000), professional actress *

Sheilah Winn Sheilah Maureen Winn (; 10 June 1917 – 27 June 2001) was a New Zealand arts patron and philanthropist. Having received a large inheritance, she used her money to support her love of the arts and particularly the theatre. Notably, she was th ...

(1917–2001), arts patron and philanthropist

References

External links

Samuel Marsden Collegiate School websiteTe Kete Ipurangi page for Samuel Marsden Collegiate SchoolTe Kete Ipurangi page for Marsden Whitby School
{{Authority control Educational institutions established in 1878 Girls' schools in New Zealand Anglican schools in New Zealand Secondary schools in the Wellington Region Schools in Wellington City 1878 establishments in New Zealand Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia