Sir George Grey, during his times as governor in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand is also affiliated with the establishment of other educational institutions such as Auckland Grammar School in Auckland, New Zealand,[5]Grey College in Bloemfontein,[6] South Africa, and Grey High School in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.[7]
The school moved to its current site in 1911.[4] It was originally a boys-only school but in 1991 began admitting girls at senior levels and went fully co-educational in 1999. The school celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2004.
St George’s School moved to the Collegiate campus in 2010. The combined schools provide primary education for day students on the St George’s campus, and secondary education for day and boarding students on the Collegiate campus.[8]
Collegiate is an International Member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) which represents heads of the leading independent schools in Ireland, the United Kingdom and international schools mainly from the Commonwealth. Whanganui Collegiate is one of only three member schools in New Zealand.
In November 2012, it was announced that the school would integrate into the state system effective January 2013, after requiring a $3.8 million bailout from the government to stay afloat.[11]
In January 2019, the Whanganui Collegiate School Board of Trustees and Whanganui College Board of Trustees unanimously voted to add an 'h' to the spelling of 'Wanganui', following other local organisations and secondary schools after the Whanganui District was similarly renamed in November 2015.[12][13]
In mid-2023, it was announced that Whanganui Collegiate School would replace NCEA Level 1 with Cambridge IGCSE from 2024.[14]
School life
As a boarding school, the house system plays a significant role in student life. Each house (of which there are 6 in total; four for boys and two for girls) accommodates approximately 80 students, and each has its own Housemaster, Assistant Housemaster and Matron. The school houses are named Harvey which is named after Reverend B. W. (Bache Wright) Harvey,[15] Hadfield which is named after Octavius Hadfield,[16] Grey which is named after George Grey, Selwyn which is named after George Selwyn,[17] Godwin and Bishops.
The school grounds also host numerous sporting facilities, including the Izard Gymnasium, High Performance Cricket Centre, a water surface hockey turf, a full-sized Cross Country Course and many team sports fields. The nearby Whanganui River is used by students for rowing training and competitions; rowing being one of the sports in which Collegiate has traditionally excelled, having won the Maadi Cup 17 times, a national record. The Collegiate women's squad had a particularly strong year in 2006 when it won the most prestigious women's race in the lower north Island, the Levin Jubilee Trophy, for the first time.[18] Unfortunately, such success could not be replicated on the national stage, with the u18 girls eight only managing bronze in the penultimate race of the 2007 Maadi Cup.[19] The school also hosts the nationally popular Whanganui Cricket Festival each year which sees over 1000 cricketers display their skills throughout the month of January.
Izard Gymnasium
Since 1925, the school's 'First XV' rugby team has played Christ's College, Wellington College and Nelson College in an annual quadrangular rugby tournament, this Tournament is played at a different school every year playing at Collegiate once every four years. In recent times, this tournament has been dominated by Wellington College. Whanganui Collegiate last won in 1991.
Since 1994, The New Zealand Opera School has been hosted at Collegiate by Donald Trott.[20]
Notable alumni
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(September 2023)
^Full list with biographies in The Register of the Wanganui Collegiate School, 1854–2003, 7th edition, 2003, ed. P. N Irvine, ISBN0-473-09863-6, pp 21–23
