St Mary's College, Wellington Explained

St Mary's College
Motto:	Misericordia et Sapientia (Mercy and Wisdom)
Type:	Integrated secondary (year 9–13) single sex, girls
Established:	1850; years ago
Address:	Guildford Terrace, Wellington, New Zealand
Principal:	Sarah Parkinson^[1]
Roll:
Decile:	9Q^[2]
Moe:	286

St Mary's College Wellington is situated in the suburb of Thorndon in Wellington, New Zealand. The school is a state-integrated all-girls Catholic secondary school for years 9–13.

History

The school, which is one of the oldest existing schools in New Zealand, was founded in 1850 by Philippe Viard, first Bishop of Wellington and staffed from 1861 by a small group of religious sisters, the "Sisters of Mary", established by Viard. Part of the land on which the school is situated was donated by Lord Petre, the 11th Baron Petre (1793–1850), who was a director of the New Zealand Company and whose family seat Thorndon Hall in Essex was an important centre of Catholic Recusancy from the time of Queen Elizabeth I. This connection is reinforced by the name of Thorndon being the name of the area of Central Wellington in which the school is located. Another part of the site was given by Sir George Grey, Governor of New Zealand out of public funds. In 1861 the school was taken over by the Sisters of Mercy (absorbing the earlier group) when they arrived in Wellington in that year. To begin with, the school was co-educational (boys and girls) and had a boarding facility attached. Nowadays the boarding facility is gone, and it is a single sex girls' school.

Buildings

While most traces of the original buildings on the site have disappeared, buildings dating from the twentieth century as the latest, including the "Gabriel Block" which is now used as the school hall. The other two main blocks are "Carlow" and "McAuley". McAuley is named after Sister Catherine McAuley, who used her inherited fortune to found the Sisters of Mercy in Dublin, Ireland.

The school remains in the ownership of the Sisters of Mercy and describes itself as a "Mercy School". The Gabriel Hall and St Joseph's Providence Porch have Category 2 listings with Heritage New Zealand (formerly New Zealand Historic Places Trust).^{[3] [4]}

As most other New Zealand Schools do, students in years 11–13 sit NCEA (National Certificate of Educational Achievement) examinations.

Characteristics

• Number of Teachers: 33^[5]
• International Students: 4
• Ethnic make up of students: New Zealand European/Pākehā, 45%; Pacific, 22%; Māori, 16%; ; Asian, 14%; Other, 3%^[6]

See also

• Sacred Heart Cathedral School, Thorndon
• Sacred Heart Cathedral, Wellington
• Sisters of Mercy
• St Mary's Cathedral, Wellington
• St Patrick's College, Silverstream

Notable alumnae

• Margaret Butler (1883–1947) – sculptor.^[7]
• Pip Desmond – Author and journalist.^[8]
• Patricia Grace (born 1937) – writer.^[9]
• Ainsleyana Puleiata (born 2000) – international netball player.^[10]
• Saviour Tui (born 2001) – Netball player; has represented Samoa internationally.^[11]
• Beverley Wakem (born 1944) – Former Chief Ombudsman, president of the International Ombudsman Institute and chief executive of Radio New Zealand.^[12]
• Therese Walsh (born 1971) – chief executive and business leader; chief operating officer for the 2011 Rugby World Cup and head of the organising body for the 2015 Cricket World Cup.^[13]
• Joy Watson (née Evans) (1938–2021) – author of children's books.^[14]
• Fran Wilde (born 1948) – New Zealand politician, and former Wellington Labour member of parliament, Minister of Tourism and first female Mayor of Wellington.^[15]

References/Sources

• Lillian G. Keys, Philip Viard, Bishop of Wellington, Pegasus Press, Christchurch, 1968.
• Ernest Richard Simmons, Brief history of the Catholic Church in New Zealand, Catholic Publications Centre, Auckland, 1978.
• Michael King, God's farthest outpost : a history of Catholics in New Zealand, Viking, Auckland 1997.
• Mary de Porres Flannigan R.S.M., Mercy comes to Wellington : a history of St. Mary’s College, St. Mary’s College Board of Trustees, Wellington, 2000.
• Michael O'Meeghan S.M., Steadfast in hope : the story of the Catholic Archdiocese of Wellington 1850–2000, Dunmore press, Palmerston North, 2003.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Principal’s welcome: Sarah Parkinson . St Mary's College . 10 August 2024.
2. Web site: Decile Change 2014 to 2015 for State & State Integrated Schools . Ministry of Education . 12 February 2015.
3. Web site: St Mary's College Gabriel Hall. Heritage New Zealand . 1 Aug 2024.
4. Web site: St Joseph's Providence Porch, St Mary's College. Heritage New Zealand . 1 Aug 2024.
5. Web site: Staff. St Mary's College. 13 January 2019.
6. Web site: About the School. 15 August 2017. Education Review Office.
7. Web site: Stocker . Mark . Butler, Margaret Mary. Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. 8 August 2022.
8. Book: Desmond, Pip . Pip Desmond . 1 November 2011 . Trust: A True Story of Women & Gangs . . 11 . 9781869796587.
9. Roger Robinson, "Patricia Grace", The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature, (edited by Roger Robinson and Nelson Wattie), Oxford University Press, Auckland, 1998, pp. 214–216.
10. Web site: The anatomy of a comeback: netball prodigy rebounds . Newsroom . Suzanne McFadden . 23 September 2020 . 23 July 2022.
11. Web site: Saviour Tui: Shooting for the top . College Sport Media . 13 June 2018 . 8 August 2022.
12. News: Romanos . Joseph . The Wellingtonian interview: Beverley Wakem . 8 August 2022 . . 27 April 2009 . en.
13. News: Carlisle . Talia . Therese Walsh's rollercoaster ride . 8 August 2022 . . 1 July 2015.
14. News: Grandpa's Slippers trod winning parth . 8 August 2022 . . . . 23 October 2021.
15. Book: Who's Who in the New Zealand Parliament 1990 . Wellington . . 1990 . 71 .