St Paul's College is a Catholic secondary school for boys owned by the Marist Brothers and located in the central Auckland suburb of Ponsonby on a spacious 7.3 hectare campus. The Marist Brothers first opened a school on the site (Sacred Heart College) in 1903. St Paul's College (named after the apostle Paul) commenced operations in 1955.
Character
The college, which became a State-integrated school in 1982, makes full use of its extensive grounds in sporting and other activities. The school offers the standard intermediate and secondary school curriculumThe New Zealand Curriculum (Retrieved 22 June 2016) leading, for the senior year levels, to the National Certificate of Educational Achievement assessment system (NCEA). The school has good pass rates in NCEA.Laura Walter, "How Auckland's St Paul's College is fighting back", Stuff News, 7 July 2015. (Retrieved 20 June 2016) The college excels in sport, especially Rugby football and in Polynesian and other cultural activities, notably in the annual ASB Polyfest competitions.ASB Polyfest 2016 (Retrieved 20 June 2016) The Marist Brothers, the proprietors of the school, maintain a small community of non-teaching brothers on the campus to encourage the continuation of the Marist charism.
Ethos and academics The school aims to incorporate students' families in the life of the college and to encourage the spirit of independence and personal responsibility amongst the students.Michael Otto, "Papal Knight headmaster earns MNZM", NZ Catholic, 26 June – 8 July 2016, p. 2. The school roll has grown as the college continues "exhorting students" to "exam success" and "altruistic action." In 2022, 65%% of all St Paul's College leavers attained NCEA level 3 and 68% of pacific students did so.Derek Cheng and Chris Knox, "How does your school rate? NCEA and UE results at every college ranked", NZ Herald 29 February 2024 (Retrieved 17 June 2024)
Houses The names and colours of the St Paul's College Houses are:
Xavier, named for Francis Xavier – red Champagnat, named for Marcellin Champagnat – yellow Lavalla, named for La Valla-en-Gier where the Marist Brothers were founded — blue Aquinas, named for Thomas Aquinas – green
Headmasters Br. Brian Wanden (Br Anselm) "Headmaster at St Paul's College for many years""What's Up? Keeping our old boys in the loop", St Paul's College, 2 July 2020 (Retrieved 11 October 2021) Denys Marra (1991 - 2009)Carly Tawhiao, "St Paul's College farewells principal", Stuff News, 31 March 2009 (Retrieved 12 October 2021) Mark Rice (2009 - 2016)Laura Walters, "How Auckland's St Paul's College is fighting back", Stuff News, 6 July 2015 (Retrieved 12 October 2021) Kieran Fouhy (2016 - 2021) Keith Simento (2021–present)
History
Marist brothers The Marist Brothers arrived in Auckland in 1885 and began operations on the site of previous schools in Pitt St in the Auckland city centre. In the 1890s they began teaching secondary classes there but it became evident that the Pitt St site was too small and noisy.
The campus By 1900 negotiations were underway with Bishop Lenihan who arranged for the brothers to lease part of a block of land of 48 acres (10 hectares) near Cox's Creek in Ponsonby. This land had been gifted to the Diocese of Auckland in 1851 by Hugh Coolahan, an Auckland Catholic businessman.Tony Waters, p. 22. He had come from Ireland and had prospered during the early days of Auckland's commercial development. He had been a member of the building committee for St Patrick's Church (later the cathedral)Father E.R. Simmons, "The first St Peter's School", Zealandia, 9 January 1977, p. 9. and was a founding member of the board of St Peter's School in Pitt St.Tony Waters, P. 314 (Note 6). The Marist Brothers leased 7.3 hectares of the land at £30 a year for a 42-year term.
The school, Sacred Heart College, was opened on 21 June 1903. The first building was a large three storied building with a prominent encompassing verandas. It was built from brick resting on concrete foundations. The bricks were coated in white plaster which later became grey with age. This building was a prominent landmark and became the main school building of St Paul's College until it was demolished in 1980.Tony Waters, pp. 25–26.
The site required much development. A gully ran through the middle of the property and the land was very unevenly contoured. Some of the land was farmed by the college. Over time the land was levelled, grassed and drained and other buildings were gradually built.Tony Waters, pp. 49–52. In 1955 the complete campus and buildings was taken over by St Paul's. But by the 21st century, the only Sacred Heart College structures left at St Pauls were a classroom, the old infirmary and a statue of the Sacred Heart.Tony Waters, p. 61. However the campus's well-wooded character testifies to its historic character.
It was only on 4 September 1946 that the Marist Brothers had acquired the freehold of the St Paul's College Richmond Rd site. On 14 June 1946 the site was vested in the New Zealand Marist Brothers' Trust Board and there was a small ceremony and Bishop Liston was thanked by the Marist Brothers. One brother later observed, perhaps sardonically, that the Marist Brothers had been paying for the land for over forty years and had effected great improvements.Tony Waters, p. 124.
Roll The school operated as St Paul's College after Queen's Birthday 1955 (from Tuesday 7 June) under the same motto "Confortare esto vir". The same traditions were faithfully upheld as they had been for the previous 50 years. Many sons of former students of the Marist Brothers preferred to attend St Paul's in the following years, both because it was centrally located and because their fathers had been educated on the site.Tony Waters, p. 138. The school maintained a substantial roll into the 1970s. On 8 August 1982, when the school was integrated it had a roll of 330 (280 in the secondary section and 50 in the middle or intermediate school), but this was increased in 1998 to a maximum roll of 400.Deed of Agreement between the New Zealand Marist Brothers Trust Board and Her Majesty the Queen, 8 August 1982 Clause 8, P. 7; Supplementary Deed of Agreement, 27 May 1998, Clause 1, p. 1. However, with the establishment of other secondary schools in the school's traditional catchment, enrolment numbers declined.Matt McEvoy, pp. 153–154. Many of the families associated with the school moved out of the local area as the socio-economic character of suburbs adjacent to the school changed although many still sent their sons to St Paul's by bus, mostly from South Auckland.Laura Walters, "St Paul's College sells chunk of land in trendy Ponsonby", Stuff News, 2 July 2015 (Retrieved 20 June 2016)St Paul's College (Ponsonby) – 03/09/2012, Education Review Office report (Retrieved 20 June 2016) The school was attempting to attract the sons of the new local demographic as well as the college's traditional supporters. In 2015 a 1700 square metre slice of unused school land was sold to fund new class rooms, an administration block and a new middle school was opened in 2018. Because of population intensification of the local central Auckland area and development of the school site, the present school roll is expected to increase substantially over time.St Paul's College 10 year Strategic plann, 2023 Retrieved 17 June 2024)
Notable alumni
The arts David Fane – actor Malo Luafutu (aka Scribe) – musician Brendan Perry – musician, member of group Dead Can DanceTicketfly: Brendan Perry, Guthrie Baldwin(Retrieved 14 January 2014) Feleti Strickson-Pua – professional musician Jean-Baptiste Piggin (1953-2019), journalist; scholar of Roman maps and diagrams, especially the 4th-century Tabula Peutingeriana and a 5th-century Latin diagram of biblical history. "Jean-Baptiste Piggin", Researchgate (Retrieved 1 November 2024)"Jean-Baptiste Piggin Obituary" NZH 2 July 2019 (Retrieved 1 November 2024)"The Great Stemma", JB Piggin, 2019 (Retrieved 19 November 2024)Roger Pearse, "Farewell J.-B. Piggin, of ” Piggin’s Unofficial list” of Vatican manuscript releases online" (Retrieved 31 January 2025) Lemi Ponifasio – director, artist, dancer, designer and choreographer Stellar Pritchard (born 2003) is a poet, dancer, artist.
Business Mark Hotchin – company director
Ron Holland – yacht designer
Politics and public service Dail Jones (born 1944) – lawyer, Member of Parliament (1978–1984 and 2002–2008) Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi (born 14 April 1945) – sixth Prime Minister of Samoa (1998–2021).Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi and Peter Swain, Pālemia, Victoria University Press, Wellington, 2017, pp. 50–51 Lautafi Fio Selafi Purcell – Samoan politician and former Cabinet Minister; member of the Human Rights Protection Party. Lefau Harry Schuster (born 1965) – Samoan politician and Cabinet Minister; member of the FAST Party.
Sports Boxing Duken Holo Tutakitoa-Williams – Commonwealth Games bronze Medal winning professional boxer.
Olympians David Aspin – Wrestling − 1972, 1976 John Leonard – Canoeing – 1976
Cricket Sebastian Kohlhase – first-class cricketer, sports administrator and businessman
Kick-boxing Jason Suttie – Muay Thai Kingboxing champion player
Rugby league Bunty Afoa – professional rugby league player Paki Afu – Parramatta Eels rugby league player Mark Elia – New Zealand Rugby League Kiwi Maurie Fa'asavalu – Manu Samoa Rugby player, St Helens Rugby League Sosaia Feki – NZ Warriors Rugby League Player Salesi Foketi - Sydney Roosters Rugby League Player Pita Godinet – Auckland Warriors rugby league player Mark Graham – rugby league player, former captain of the Kiwis Siliva Havili – rugby league player Nuko Hifo – professional rugby league player Stacey Jones – New Zealand Warriors rugby league player Phillip Leuluai Cronulla Sharks Sam Lousi – New Zealand Warriors rugby league player Sione Lousi – New Zealand Warriors rugby league player Tu'u Maori – Papua New Guinea National Rugby League 2008 Rugby League World Cup team, Newtown Jets, Sydney Roosters under 20's, (previously played for Cronulla Sharks, Melbourne Storm, and Richmond Rovers). Manu Ma'u – Parramatta Eels rugby league player Francis Meli – NZ Warriors and St. Helens rugby league player Jirah Momoisea – Parramatta Eels Rugby League Prop/Second Rower Siose Muliumu (born 1976) – professional rugby league player; played for Whitehaven, the United States, and the New Zealand Warriors. Dane O'Hara – professional rugby league player (Hull) Agnatius Paasi – NZ Warriors Rugby League player John Palavi – NZ Warriors rugby league player Jerome Ropati – New Zealand Warriors rugby league player Nafe Seluini – Penrith Panthers rugby league player Michael Sio – Auckland Warriors, Toa Samoa Rugby League World Cup 2013 David Solomona – Bradford Bulls rugby league player Shannon Stowers – NZ Warriors Rugby League Player Mark Taufua – Newcastle Knights – Cronulla sharks Elijah Taylor – Auckland Warriors rugby league player Ben Te'o – Brisbane Broncos rugby league player Starford To'a – West Tigers rugby league winger/centre/fullback Evarn Tuimavave – New Zealand Warriors rugby league player (Prop Forward) Christian Tuipulotu – Manly Warringah Sea Eagles Rugby League winger/centre Joe Vagana – Auckland Warriors rugby league player Nigel Vagana – Auckland Warriors rugby league player Daniel Vasau – Rugby league international, represented Tonga at the 2000 World Cup Greg Wolfgramm – Rugby league international, represented Tonga at the 2000 World Cup
Rugby union Edwin Cocker New Zealand Rugby Union Sevens Player – Auckland Rugby Union Colin Farrell – All Black (1977), Auckland representative (1974–1981) Bernie Fraser – All Black rugby union player Liaki Moli – Rugby Union player for the Auckland Blues (2012–2014) and the Japanese Sunwolves (2016 – present) Isaia Tuifua – Professional Rugby Union player