| Kelston Girls’ College | |
| Motto: | To wisdom with honour |
| Location: | Achibald Rd, Kelston, Auckland |
| Country: | New Zealand |
| Coordinates: | -36.9068°N 174.6637°W |
| Type: | State single-sex girls secondary (Year 9–13) |
| Moe: | 84 |
| Principal: | Sarah Stenson |
| School Roll: | |
Kelston Girls’ College (KGC) is a single-sex girls state secondary school in Kelston, a suburb in West Auckland, New Zealand. It was created in 1963 when the roll of Kelston High School (formed in 1954) became too large for the site on the corner of Archibald and Great North Roads.[1] The boys moved to a new site further down Archibald Road and the original site became the home of Kelston Girls' High School (now Kelston Girls' College).
In 1888, New Lynn School, one of the first schools in West Auckland, was opened on the current site of Kelston Girls' College. In 1914, the school was relocated to its modern-day site on Hutchinson Avenue.[2] In 1954 the Kelston High School, a co-educational school, was opened at the site of the old New Lynn School.[3] It was the third high school to open in West Auckland, after Avondale College in 1945, and Henderson High School a year beforehand.[3] Kelston High School was separated into two schools in 1963, with Kelston Girls' High School remaining at the site and Kelston Boys' High School moving to a new campus to the north.[3] In 1993, a marae was established on the school grounds.[3]
In 2004 Kelston Girls' High School Board of Trustees decided to undergo a change of name. Following consultation with the community, the school was renamed Kelston Girls' College. At the time Board chairwoman Rosemary Caldwell commented that the name change would help to attract international students.[4]
Kelston Girls' College is a Te Kotahitanga school.[5] Te Kotahitanga is an education style aimed at raising Māori student achievement. It prescribes that the student is at the centre of learning in the classroom and that culturally responsive relational trust is the focus of all teachers.
As of 2014 the school's ethnic composition was as follows:[6]
Kelston Girls' College receives a number of students who have come to New Zealand as refugees. These students are supported with an orientation programme, regular homework tutorials and career planning.
Kelston Girls' College has an onsite Hauora centre. Students have access to a doctor, registered nurse, physiotherapist, guidance counsellors, youth work, social worker and family planning services. The purpose-built centre aims to support students' physical, emotional and mental health.[7]