John Paul College, Rotorua

The John Paul College Administration Building.

John Paul College is a secondary school in Rotorua, New Zealand. It caters for year 7 to 13 boys and girls and offers a Catholic education to its students. It was opened in 1987 and combined two existing schools, Edmund Rice College (for boys) and MacKillop College (for girls).^[4] The school was founded to serve the Catholic families of Rotorua. John Paul College was named for Pope John Paul II.

Roll

John Paul College has a diverse, multicultural roll. In 2010, its ethnic composition was: NZ European/Pākehā 66%; Māori 14%; Asian 11%; Pacific 4%; Korean 3%; Indian 2%; Filipino 2% and Other 9%^[5] The college supports a wide range of cultural and sporting activities and students have gained many successes at regional and national levels.^[5] Academically, the school offers for senior years the National Certificate of Educational Achievement assessment system (NCEA).^[6] As of 2011, it has a maximum school roll of 1,100 students, not counting international students.

College

John Paul College attained its 25th anniversary in 2012. It considers itself to be a Lasallian School whose mission is to form a Community where teachers and students can live their faith and become the persons that God wants them to be. "We believe that the love of Christ binds us together as children of God, peoples of all races and conditions, rich or poor, bright or otherwise, for all are made in God's Image and are members of His family. On this faith rests the mutual love and respect that is fostered between teacher and student in our Schools. We believe as lay colleagues to the De La Salle Brothers we give testimony to the Providence and Presence of God as we educate the young in the tradition of Saint Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, giving attention to all and especially to pupils whose development is hindered by economics, personal and other problems."^[7][8]

The college sees itself as "a top performing state-integrated Catholic school" and as "the largest co-educational Catholic School in New Zealand". As "a Lasallian school in the Catholic tradition" it is "linked to other faiths through its network of similar schools and universities around the world." It promotes excellence in the academic, sporting and cultural spheres and has comprehensive systems of pastoral care and support to "ensure that each individual student can flourish to his or her fullest potential." Most of the school's classrooms have been rebuilt "over the last seven years." A gymnasium and performing arts centre have been recently built. WiFi is accessible in the classrooms to enable students to use their digital devices for learning. There is also a dedicated music suite with practice rooms and recording studio. The school has a large grass sports field and nine astro-turf courts for tennis, netball and hockey. There are many sporting facilities available in Rotorua for students' use.^[9]

On 12 February 2015, the Bishop Denis Browne, Emeritus Bishop of Hamilton, opened the eponymous "Denis Browne Centre" which is a state of the art technology building accommodating Woodwork, Metalwork, Art, Photography and Graphics.^[10]

Houses

The John Paul College Houses, colours and eponyms are^[11] are:

• Kanea -yellow - Kanea was the daughter of Mita Taupopoki, the distinguished leaders of Tuhourangi. Like her father, who was an astute man, Kanea was blessed with outstanding qualities of mind. All her life she practiced the virtues of her Catholic faith. She was a role model for the young women of Te Arawa in the exemplary manner in which she lived her life. She was a descendant of Hinemoa and Tutanekai.
• La Salle - purple - Saint John Baptist de La Salle (1651-1719) was a prominent Catholic saint in France who made it his life's work to help improve the education of children. He founded an order known as the Brothers of the Christian Schools (now known as the De La Salle Brothers). He is the Patron Saint of Teachers and his feast day is the 7th of April. "In 1998, at the invitation of the Bishop, the association of the College with the De La Salle Brothers began with the establishment of a Brother's community."^[8]
• McKenna - blue - Father Daniel McKenna was a Mill Hill Missionary born in the city of Limerick, Ireland on the 6th of December 1911. Educated in Ireland he moved to New Zealand after becoming a Priest on the 9th of July 1939. He was Parish priest of Saint Michael's from December 1951 until the creation of St Mary's Parish in 1954, when he became its first parish priest. He remained priest of this Parish for the next 30 years. He was instrumental in the creation of the Catholic primary schools and in establishing both McKillop College and Edmund Rice College. He died on the 14th of January 1983
• MacKillop - green - Mother Mary Helen MacKillop (15 January 1842 – 8 August 1909) also known as Saint Mary of the Cross,^[12] an Australian nun, who, together with Father Julian Tenison Woods, founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart who founded Catholic education in Rotorua and who staffed MacKillop College.
• Rice - red - Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice was the founder of the Christian Brothers in 1802. The order arrived in New Zealand in 1876 and they provided staff for Edmund Rice College for the 25 year's of its existence and for John Paul College in its early years.

Principals

• Mr Jack Griffith 1986 - 1988 (Foundation Principal)^[13]
• Mr Steve Robb 1989 - 1995^[13]
• Mr Bede Roughton 1996 - 2002^[13]
• Mr Patrick Walsh 2003 - (Current Principal)^[13]

Antecedents

Sisters of St Joseph

In 1902, Mother Mary MacKillop (St Mary of the Cross), the founder of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, went to Rotorua during the last of her four visits to New Zealand. Her doctors had suggested that she might find in the mineral waters some relief from the rheumatic condition that was progressively limiting her activities and causing her considerable distress. In the course of her treatment, on 11 May 1902, she suffered a severe stroke and she seemed near death. As soon as she was recovered sufficiently to be moved, Bishop Lenihan, the fifth Catholic Bishop of Auckland, arranged for her to be transported by rail to Auckland where she convalesced at the Remuera convent for the best part of a year.^[14] "It was evidently during her stay in Rotorua that Mother Mary MacKillop saw the great need for a Catholic school there, and set the arrangements in motion."^[14]

Father Kreijmborg, Mill Hill missionary priest, in 1902, built a school near the lake in St Michael's Parish and prepared a convent for the sisters who arrived the following year.^[14] By 1922 the School was proving inadequate for the number of children seeking admission. The decision was made to build a new school in Ranolf Street; St Joseph's School opened in 1924.^[14] The school included a secondary department. "[I]n 1954 the staffing levels at St Joseph's, Rotorua, had reached chronic levels. Class sizes were 57, 75, 78, 80 and 100. The educational impact was severe and struggling staff were advised by the Diocesan Director of Schools on how to 'ensure at least some people progress until staffing can be improved'."^[15] This led to the secondary section being closed in 1957, with the only available options for Rotorua Catholic families being at that time Rotorua Boys' High School, Rotorua Girls' High School or a boarding school outside Rotorua.^[16] There was a strong demand for Catholic secondary education in Rotorua in the late 1950s. Population growth had been high in the Bay of Plenty area, starting in 1950. This growth was contributed to by Forestry, farming and tourism developments. The population of Rotorua was under 10,000 in 1945 but reached 20,000 by 1963.^[16]

Edmund Rice College

In 1959, the seventh Catholic Bishop of Auckland, Archbishop Liston, made a request to the Christian Brothers (already established in the diocese at St Peter's College, Auckland) to establish a secondary school for boys in Rotorua.^[17] In 1962 the Christian Brothers decided to go ahead with the Rotorua foundation. The site for the college already existed. In 1946, Catholic land-owner Patrick Keaney had bequeathed 4 acres 27 perches to the Parish of St Mary. In 1958 a further 10 acres 2 roods were purchased. The building of the school commenced in 1962.^[18] Edmund Rice College was officially opened in July 1963.^[16] On the first day, the college had a roll of 115 boys, of whom 25% were Maori.^[19]

"Edmund Rice College school bell rang for the first time in 1963 to the sounds of a construction site. Hammers punctuated English lessons and Maths was conducted as the building multiplies in size around the 115 founding students. It was a rugged start to Rotorua's first Catholic boys' college. The boys were pioneers. The facilities in the early days were very basic. The ovals were just farm fields, the buildings were not complete. Nonetheless, in its opening year the school field[s] sports teams, sent a contingent to Tauranga to meet the Queen and staged a musical. Parents took time off to develop the playing fields and roads. The opening year, 1963, was 201 years after the birth of the school's namesake and founder of the Christian Brothers, Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice. Edmund Rice College was fully staffed by Christian Brothers when it opened but gradually lay teachers were employed as fewer Brothers became available. The college became a State-integrated school in 1983, as a Form 3-7 Secondary College with an attached intermediate School."^[18]

MacKillop College

MacKillop College (named after Mary MacKillop (St Mary of the Cross)) for girls was opened by the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart on 14 February 1966, on a site adjoining Edmund Rice College, with a foundation roll of 146 girls in Forms I, II and III. The day began with an assembly at which Father D McKenna, parish priest of St Mary's, Rotorua, blessed the five rooms ready for immediate use and he blessed a crucifix for each room. Work had started building the college in 1965. The buildings were finally completed in 1975.^[20] MacKillop College was officially opened by Archbishop Liston on 8 May 1966.^[21] Difficulties in providing a wide range of subjects at senior level resulted in sharing classes with Edmund Rice College. This was convenient also because the two colleges were situated so closely to each other. In general, the girls went to Edmund Rice College for the science subjects while the boys took languages and biology at MacKillop College.^[22] "Integration brought an interesting situation. MacKillop was structured as a 'Form 1-7' school, while Edmund Rice was deemed to be a 'secondary school with an attached intermediate'. This meant teachers working [in] the Form 1 and 2 classes in each school were on different pay scales and the schools were staffed according to two different formulae. And this for schools which were about 200 metres apart!"^[22]

Amalgamation

The cost of upgrading the schools when they were integrated and the need to ensure that facilities were not duplicated led Bishop Gaines, the first Catholic Bishop of Hamilton, to decide to amalgamate the schools. For example, the Education Department estimated the cost of upgrading Edmund Rice and MacKillop Colleges to meet integration requirements at $1.2 million.^[23] "The decision was surprisingly controversial, and the consultation process could have been done better. There was a feeling among some that the decision to amalgamate had been taken, and that any consultation was simply 'going through the motions'."^[22] "Bishop Gaines drove the change and it was his financial genius which pulled off the sale, and later the purchase back of [the] McKillop [College site], for a very healthy profit to the school. The funds from the initial sale enabled John Paul College to build and refurbish, to meet the needs of the growing numbers of students."^[24] The amalgamation was completed in May 1987 and Edmund Rice College and MacKillop College closed. Edmund Rice College was in its 25th year. The Christian Brothers Community was reduced to three, was relocated in rented accommodation nearby, and the Brothers former home became the administration centre of John Paul College. In May, 1987, John Paul College opened its doors to 687 students. For a time the new school operated in both places, but the former Edmund Rice College was chosen for the new site because it had more potential for development.^[25] At the end of 1989 the Christian Brothers Community was withdrawn from Rotorua.^[22] The MacKillop buildings have produced rental income for the college.

Legacy

Sister Anne Marie Power R.S.J. has said that Mary MacKillop (St Mary of the Cross) "would have a smile of approval for this important educational venture which is doing so much for the Catholic youth of Rotorua - a place very dear to her heart for the care that was afforded her there in a time of failing health, and especially because it was she herself who initiated the founding of the first Catholic school in Rotorua."^[26] The school is also a fitting legacy for Blessed Edmund Rice and the efforts of the Christian Brothers.

Early staff

Notable alumni

Business

• Theresa Gattung - former CEO of Telecom New Zealand (MacKillop College)

Church

• Michael Patrick Guthrie cfc - first old boy of Edmund Rice College to enter the Christian Brothers.
• Trevor Murray - first old boy of Edmund Rice College to be ordained a priest.^[31]
• Robert Sharplin- priest; old boy of Edmund Rice College - chaplain of John Paul College in 2004.^[32]

Sport

• Susan Devoy, DNZM (1998, for services to sport and the community) - World Champion Squash Player 1985, 1987, 1990 and 1992 (runner-up in 1989); in April 2013 appointed New Zealand Race Relations Commissioner for a five-year term (the first woman to hold the position)^[33][34] (MacKillop College).^[35]

Entertainment

• Cliff Curtis - international television and film star; has won three New Zealand Film and TV awards for the films: Desperate Remedies, Best Performance in a Supporting Role: Male (1993); Jubilee, Best Actor (2000); and Whale Rider, Best Supporting Actor (2002); also acted in The Piano, Once Were Warriors and River Queen (Edmund Rice College)^[36]
• Clinton Roberts - New Zealand radio personality, currently airing on The Edge FM

See also

• List of Christian Brothers New Zealand school alumni

Notes

References

External links

• John Paul College website
• Edmund Rice Network
• Catholic-hierarchy website
• Catholic Diocese of Hamilton (Retrieved 25 February 2015)
• Catholic Church in New Zealand

Pope Saint John Paul II
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