St Peter's College, Auckland
| St Peter's College | |
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St Peter's College, Bro O'Driscoll Building (opened in 1939, with additions in 1944) - Photograph 2009
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| Address | |
| 23 Mountain Road Grafton Auckland 1023 New Zealand |
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| Coordinates | 36°52′3″S 174°46′8″E / 36.86750°S 174.76889°ECoordinates: 36°52′3″S 174°46′8″E / 36.86750°S 174.76889°E |
| Information | |
| Type | State Integrated Catholic Boys Secondary (Year 7-13) |
| Motto |
To Love and To Serve (Amare et Servire) |
| Established | 1939; 78 years ago (original schools founded 1841 and 1857) |
| Ministry of Education Institution no. | 62 |
| Headmaster | James Bentley |
| School roll | 1350(July 2016) |
| Socio-economic decile | 8P |
| Website | st-peters.school.nz |
St Peter's College (Te Kura Teitei o Hāto Petera) is a Catholic secondary school for boys, located in Auckland, New Zealand, in the central city suburb of Grafton. With a roll of over 1300, the school is one of the largest Catholic schools in New Zealand. St Peter's College was established in 1939 as a successor of Auckland's earliest school (1841) and of St Peter's School, founded in 1857. The Outhwaite family, who acquired the land around 1841, donated the site of the college. The Christian Brothers provided staff for the college for 70 years. St Peter's College is the oldest Catholic boys' school in Auckland still on its original site, and with its original name. For nearly 50 years, St Peter's College had direct access to its own adjacent railway station, specifically created for the college and at first generally known as the "St Peter's College station". The school was integrated into the state system along with 240 other New Zealand Catholic schools in 1982.
St Peter's has high academic pass rates and is very selective with, on average, three times as many applications as available placements.
Auckland's first school of any sort was a Catholic school for boys. Its first classes were held on 27 September 1841. It was set up by Catholic laymen of Auckland following the first visit of Bishop Pompallier. The teacher was Edmund Powell (who was a leading layman also involved in building St Patrick's Church (soon to be Cathedral)), and classes were first held in his own residence in Shortland Crescent (later renamed Shortland Street) on 27 September 1841. This school appears to have existed only for a short time.
In 1857, St Peter's School was established by a group of laymen (Messrs Coolahan, Boylan, Dignan, McGauran and O'Rafferty) led by Father O'Hara, the curate at St Patrick's Cathedral, as Auckland's first Catholic secondary school for boys. In that year Bishop Pompallier prepared a list of church schools for the Government and for "propaganda" which stated: "St Peter's Select School is established for the more advanced boys. The Greek, Latin, French, Italian and German languages are taught in it, also Geometry, Mensuration, Arithmetic, Geography, English Grammar etc ... Terms per Annum 12.0.0 for each pupil." The school had a Board of Governors composed of its founders which included the Member of Parliament, Patrick Dignan. Classes commenced in rented accommodation, probably in Drake St, Freemans Bay.John Logan Campbell donated a sum of £500 and a block of land on the corner of Pitt and Wellington Streets. A brick school building was built there. The founding teacher was Richard O'Sullivan and, during his tenure, the school was often identified with him (St Peter's boys were said to be "educated by Richard O'Sullivan" rather than by the school). Amongst his students were John Sheehan, Joseph Tole, Peter Dignan and Charles and William Outhwaite. O'Sullivan resigned in 1861. In 1865 the teacher was Peter Morand.
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