St. Bernard's College, Lower Hutt

St Bernard's College

Respice Stellam Voca Mariam
"Look To The Star, Call Upon Mary"
Address
183 Waterloo Road,
Lower Hutt,
New Zealand
Coordinates 41°12′37″S 174°55′01″E / 41.2104°S 174.9169°E / -41.2104; 174.9169Coordinates: 41°12′37″S 174°55′01″E / 41.2104°S 174.9169°E / -41.2104; 174.9169
Information
Type State integrated boys Secondary (Year 7–13)
Established 1946; 70 years ago
Ministry of Education Institution no. 260
Principal Simon Stack
School roll 649[1] (July 2016)
Socio-economic decile 6N[2]
Website www.sbc.school.nz

St Bernard's College (often abbreviated to SBC) is a Catholic Year 7 to 13 (Form 1 to 7) secondary School for Boys, located at 183 Waterloo Rd, Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand. The school was opened by the Marist Brothers in 1946.

The College has a strong Catholic character and its students come from many backgrounds including European, Indian, Asian, Maori and Polynesian. The maximum roll is 660 pupils.

Special Character

Although often implicit, the Special Character of the school pervades every aspect of school life and is integral to the school. Despite St. Bernard being the namesake of the college, St. Marcellin is the most important figure in the special character of the school.

School Crest

The school crest was designed by Brother Gerard who served as Principal of the school from 1959 to 1964. The crest of St. Bernard's consists of a shield divided into three panels:

  1. St. Bernard was Abbot of Clairvaux in France;
  2. Marcellin Champagnat founded the Marist Brothers of the School in France; and
  3. Bishop Pompallier, a Frenchman, was instrumental in bringing the Catholic faith to New Zealand.

Surmounting the shield is a combination of stars resting on a bar divided into three parts. The Latin inscription at the foot of the shield translates to "Look to the star, call upon Mary."

Academics

St. Bernard's College offers a wide range of subjects. The school has enjoyed moderate NCEA success.

Sports

The main field in Saint Bernard's College

St. Bernard's College has offered many sports as extra-curricular activities. It currently offers Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Cricket, Cross Country, Football, Golf, Hockey, Mountain Biking, Rowing, Rugby, Rugby League, Rugby 7s, Softball, Swimming, Tennis, Touch Rugby, Volleyball and Waterpolo.

The school has enjoyed success most notably in Waterpolo and Rugby.

Music and Culture

Music and Cultural performance have always been a part of St. Bernard's College. The school's musical origins go back to the first year the school opened in 1946. A group of St. Peter and Paul's Primary School children combined with St. Bernard's to form a choir.

The school branched out and explored other aspects of music and culture. School productions have been an important extra-curricular activity. The contribution of Mr. Neville Watson (HoD English) in directing and producing many productions in the 1970s and 1980s should be especially noted.

Notable productions include:

The 1970s saw the arrival of many more Polynesian students at the school. In 1973, a Polynesian Cultural group was formed so that those students could express themselves in the culture and invoke interest in other students. The arrival of Samoan and Tokelaun students towards the end of that decade gave the school a new dimension. The Polynesian Cultural group was very strongly supported by Hugh Graham and later Peter Fava.

The school has participated in the annual O'Shea Shield speech and drama competition held between Catholic colleges in the Wellington and Palmerston North Dioceses. In 2002, the school served as host college, and is set to host the 2017 competition.

List of Principals

With Simon Stack's appointment at the start of 2016, fifteen principals have served St. Bernard's College since its formation in 1946.

  • Br. Bernard Fulton (1946)
  • Br. Ignatius Callan (1947–52)
  • Br. Gerald Murphy (1953–57)
  • Br. Oswald Wall (1958)
  • Br. Gerard Mullin (1959–64)
  • Br. Cyprian Tuite (1965–70)
  • Br. Neil Hyland (1971–72)
  • Br. Majella Sherry (1973–74)
  • Br. Arnold Turner (1975–79)
  • Br. Hugh Graham (1980–82)
  • Br. Terence Costello (1983–95)
  • Br. Denis Turner (1995)
  • Mr. Peter Fava (1996–2015)
  • Mr. Hedley Aitken (2015)
  • Mr. Simon Stack (2016–present)

Notable alumni

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Directory of Schools - as at 2 August 2016". New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved 2016-08-16.
  2. ↑ "Decile Change 2014 to 2015 for State & State Integrated Schools". Ministry of Education. Retrieved 12 February 2015.

External links

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