Onslow College is a state co-educational secondary school located in Johnsonville, a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. In 2022 it had 1405 students.[3] The current principal is Sheena Millar.
History
Onslow College opened in 1956 to serve Wellington's rapidly growing northern suburbs.[4][5] It was named after the 4th Earl of Onslow, governor of New Zealand from 1889 to 1892.[4]
The school roll grew from 201 third form pupils in 1956 to 1180 pupils in 1969.[4]
Former principal Stuart Martin described the "Onslow Way" as "socially liberal but educationally conservative, decile 10 but physically run down".[4] In 1969, Peggy-Anne Wendelken became New Zealand's first woman chair of a school board of governors; at this time Onslow's board had student representation, twenty years before this became a legal requirement.[4]
The school has not had a school uniform since 1974 when it was abolished following student protest,[6] despite the strong opposition of the Headmaster.[4] In 2016 Onslow was one of the first schools in the region to have gender-neutral toilets for students.[7]
Several staff have received awards for teaching excellence. Terry Burrell, received the prestigious Prime Minister's Science Teacher Prize in 2014,[8] and the same year Esme Danielsen (Maths) received a Woolf Fisher Fellowship.[9]
Onslow students won The Prime Minister's Future Scientist Prize in 2009, 2016 and 2018.[10]
Music – Smokefree Rockquest Wellington regional finalists in 2021 were Obsidian Sun.[11] In 2016 Onslow College bands and individuals took out five of the eight awards the Regional Final: Best Vocalist – Raquel Abolins-Reid, Musicianship Award – Noah Spargo, Best Lyricist – Sarah Mc Bride, 3rd placed band – Bird on a Wire, 1st placed band and overall winners of the Wellington Regional Final – Retrospect.[12][13]
In 2017 Onslow College won the Wellington regional "Festival Cup"[14] for the school best representing the spirit of the Big Sing,[15] a school choral festival organised by the New Zealand Choral Federation.
On 13 February 1997, 18-year-old former student Nicholas Hawker murdered 15-year-old St Mary's College student Vanessa Woodman on the school's grounds. Hawker was sentenced to life imprisonment with a 10-year non-parole period.[16] He was released on parole in 2015, but is not allowed in the North Island.[17]
School Buildings
On Friday 25 October 2024 the school received an engineering report on two of the school's blocks stating they were earthquake prone.[18] The first building listed was the O block which was discovered to have a New Building Standard (NBS) ratting of 30%, with an inner stairwell having a ratting of 15% and the building having a 6% inter-story drift between floors.[19] The second building listed was the Gym (Block Q) which has an NBS ratting of 15% with the celling braces posing the greatest risk.[20] As a result of the low NBS ratting on these two buildings the school has made the decision for the two buildings to be closed until further notice.[21]
