St Paul's Collegiate School

St Paul’s S TAT E

IN FIDE

Growth through Achievement

“There must be an inspiration, a vision at least of greatness and, above all, more than a glimpse of the ultimate goal of human endeavours.”

Viscount Cobham, G.C.M.G., T.D. Governor General of New Zealand at the laying of the foundation stone of St Paul’s Collegiate School, May 1958.

St Paul’s St Paul's is more than the sum of its parts. It is an holistic experience of personal development where all students are given the opportunity to develop their own individuality, to identify their aspirations and to strive to achieve them.

St Paul's sets challenges and provides a framework to learn how to confront them.

It offers personal growth through achievement and spiritual formation. It provides pastoral care during a time of growth and development. It offers excitement and adventure.

St Paul's sets high academic standards for its students and it expects them to be met. Life at St Paul's is all-encompassing, for boarders and day students alike. All students are immersed in activities and programmes which develop their spiritual, physical and emotional well-being as well as their intellectual and academic competencies.

But most of all St Paul's offers traditional values - the precepts upon which to build a good and worthwhile life.

The School aims to inspire its students to reach beyond their own personal boundaries and find the rewards which come from facing new experiences, meeting individual challenges and giving and receiving support and companionship.

G. J. Fenton Headmaster

St Paul’s A sense of community

In 1831, Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote: “If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us! But ... the light which experience gives us is a lantern on the stern, which shines only on the waves behind us.”

At St Paul’s, we believe in using the lessons of history to light the way ahead. The School has taken the strengths of the past and placed them in a modern and forward-looking setting, to prepare today’s young people for their place in tomorrow’s world. St Paul’s heritage of success demonstrates that caring and supportive conditions bring out the best in people. To this end, the School provides an orderly, safe, non-threatening environment in which students can face their daily challenges and develop to their full potential.

All day and boarding students are fully engaged in the life of the School and their contribution is carefully monitored to help develop a sense of mutual trust and achievement. The routine requirements of academic and School life, combined with the wide range of pursuits and activities available to students, ensure that the School day at St Paul's begins early and ends late. This strong student commitment contributes to the sense of shared responsibility which is a key concept at St Paul’s. The School's carefully structured environment and support network helps individual students to meet the expectations of the School, their peers and their family.

The Old Collegians provide another strong support network for St Paul's students. Past students and their families are always welcome at the School - both as valued members of the extended School family and as inspiration for current students, who gain extra motivation from seeing how others have benefited from the St Paul's experience.

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St Paul’s A ‘home’ for every student

Central to the social structure of the School is the House system. All students belong to one of nine Houses in the School - four boarding and five day Houses. Each House is an extended family of staff and students, all known to each other, who share bonds of duty, loyalty and friendship. Students normally remain in the same House throughout their time at St Paul's, as it becomes the focus of their social and support network.

At the heart of St Paul's is the new Student Centre - the Turangawaewae or ‘community heartbeat’ of the School. The five day students' Houses are located in the Student Centre, giving these students the opportunity to take time out from their daily commitments to be in a place they can call their own. The Centre also features a large, well-appointed seminar room, along with the Careers Advisory Centre, the School Shop and the Administration Offices.

Through the House system the School provides a ‘home’ for every student - a place where they can each access the support and guidance of teachers and their peers.

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St Paul’s The spirit of boarding

Boarding at St Paul’s is a highly rewarding experience. Each House has its own character and style which has evolved over the years. The House is the focal point of life for boarding students.

Each boys’ House takes up to 75 students with 15 from each of the year groups. Each House has a senior and assistant housemaster, two resident tutors and a matron. Year 9 and Year 10 boys share 8-bed dorms, Year 11 boys have 3-bed dorms, Year 12 boys have 2-bed dorms with their own study and Year 13 boys have their own rooms.

Harington House, the girls’ boarding House, is structured to meet the needs of senior female students.

The senior girls at St Paul’s have the opportunity to work and achieve across the various School disciplines, both within their House environment and within the predominantly male student community. The two years at St Paul’s are designed to give them the confidence and life skills to make an effective transition from School to university and beyond.

All boarding students have two hours of homework every weeknight which is supervised by a staff member and a prefect. Individual assistance and tuition is available while students are helped to develop their own problem-solving abilities. Each House has a fully equipped computer room with a number of computers, printers and educational software, to help students prepare homework and assignments. E-mail and internet access is also available to encourage students to stay in touch with distant family and friends.

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St Paul’s Firm in the faith

The Chapel of Christ the King plays a central and important role in the corporate life of St Paul’s.

The School meets in chapel each day for either an assembly or for worship. Cultural events and performances are also held in this fine building making full use of the world class organ and concert piano.

St Paul’s was founded on the values and conventions of the Anglican Church but spiritual life is sensitive to the diverse backgrounds of the students. A feature of our School is that students have always been encouraged to participate in chapel life and many students will, at some time, be involved in planning and taking a chapel service which will include giving sermons. The chapel furniture was made by students in 1967 and today’s students are making their contribution by painting new murals.

Both in the chapel and classroom programmes the emphasis is to help students make faith connections with the day to day activities of life. The Year 10 programme, for example, connects and relates the rich and unique Tihoi experience to our Christian journey. Every endeavour is made to assist students to learn to ‘stand firm in the faith’ which is what our School motto State in Fide means.

Throughout the year a variety of special services are held for the School community which include the Founders Service and The Confirmation Service. Each House also has a number of special services that parents are especially invited to. Sunday evening services are boarders’ services and parents and friends of the School are welcome at these services.

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St Paul’s Growth through education

St Paul’s strives to prepare students to take their place confidently and successfully in society, with the prospect of a happy and rewarding future. Academic achievement is vital to that preparation. St Paul’s provides a teaching and learning environment which encourages students to achieve their best.

St Paul’s students have a fine academic record. Their results have been most impressive. In most years over 90 per cent of students who sit external examinations pass them. Year 13 students are consistently successful in the University Bursary examination. More than 80 per cent regularly achieve a Scholarship or an ‘A’ or ‘B’ Bursary pass. The students at St Paul’s recognise the opportunity they have been given and understand the responsibility placed on them to make the most of that opportunity.

The school provides a learning environment in which students set and attain personal goals. Students are taught by outstanding teachers in modern high-quality facilities. Small classes, a carefully structured academic programme and highly trained teachers mean the School can build up a clear profile of the abilities and needs of each student and adjust curriculum delivery to suit the individual.

Great care is taken to ensure that parents and students are involved in planning courses of study. Career profiling programmes ensure that students can identify and take courses which will help them towards attaining entry to their chosen career.

Through the pursuit of academic excellence, St Paul’s helps all students extend their personal academic boundaries and then achieve results above and beyond them.

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Learning for Life St Paul’s seeks to bridge the traditional values of education with the realities of preparing its students for success in their world of tomorrow. A philosophy of low class size, staff accountability and a clear focus on individual learning underpins all instruction.

The expectations of parents and students regarding curriculum delivery are taken into account by all teachers at St Paul’s. Class sizes are restricted. Senior classes have no more than 20 students, lower-band junior classes no more than 20 students and all other classes no more than 25 students.

As an independent School St Paul’s has the flexibility to go beyond the normal syllabus requirements to extend its students in a variety of ways. Homework (or ‘prep’) is set each day and students are expected to complete all set work on time and to the appropriate standard.

Curriculum delivery is geared to suit the needs of the individual as well as the group.

A learning resources unit provides individual assistance for those who experience specific learning difficulties and for gifted children.

Tihoi A School with a difference

Tihoi is a campus of St Paul’s - with a difference. It is a remote community of the School set in rugged bush on the western side of Lake Taupo. Here, 150km away from the cultivated, parklike surroundings of ‘the home school’, is an environment with a different challenge.

Tihoi is a Venture School. It is based on the philosophy of ‘character development through adventure’ developed by educationist Kurt Hahn. At Tihoi, students get ‘back to basics’ in order to learn more about others and about themselves.

Through Tihoi, St Paul’s is committed to accelerating the social development of students. Building the qualities of self-esteem and personal motivation, developing the ability to meet challenges and learning to work with others to achieve common goals are all part of the Tihoi experience.

Year 10 students are the most common Tihoi residents, spending half their School year there; however, the Venture School is used by St Paul’s for a variety of student groups and purposes. Senior students attend leadership courses. Girls attend an adventure camp at the beginning of each year. Students participating in the Duke of Edinburgh scheme have the perfect place to train. Whatever the purpose of the visit, Tihoi always provides students with extra challenges and inspiration. Combining modern teaching methods with an extended period of life in the outdoors makes Tihoi and St Paul’s unique.

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Tihoi Growth through adventure

The principal Tihoi experience for most St Paul’s students is an 18-week residential course during Year 10. For half their academic year these students live in austere house which were formerly part of a timber mill. Here they learn to live and work together with their fellow House members, taking responsibility for their own housekeeping, preparing their own meals on a wood-burning stove and meeting a range of personal and social challenges.

Outdoor pursuits at Tihoi include kayaking, sailing, rock climbing, mountain craft, caving, bush survival, tramping, solo and abseiling. Encouraging improved individual fitness in every student is a primary goal for Tihoi’s instructors.

Students learn from the environment they live in. While the focus at Tihoi is on outdoors experience, the students continue to pursue an academic programme in all mainstream subjects. The Tihoi experience teaches students to bring the positive lessons they learn outdoors into the classroom and vice versa. Students are challenged to extend their limits and achieve personal and shared goals in a positive, stimulating, safe and supportive environment.

Tihoi’s full-time staff are teachers who have had extensive additional training in supervising outdoor pursuits programmes and first aid.

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Tihoi The Tihoi result

At the Tihoi Venture School students learn to appreciate the greatness of the outdoors and relate their experiences to everyday life.

Over the years, Year 10 boys at St Paul’s have faced the test of Tihoi.

Whatever their abilities and competencies, they have returned enriched and empowered.

They have learned to face and overcome new challenges, to work with others towards shared goals and to extend their own personal boundaries beyond what they might ever have imagined.

The Tihoi experience lasts a lifetime. The camaraderie, the adventure, the skills, the fun and the responsibilities of living in close quarters with a large number of others, create bonds of friendship and memories of a unique experience which never fade.

At Tihoi there is competition, but there are no losers.

Here everybody succeeds.

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...rock climbing “to reach great heights you must be able to overcome difficult obstacles.”

...kayaking

Life is like....

“you don’t have to go with the flow (eddies); sometimes going with the flow can get you into trouble (waterfalls).”

...caving “there are lots of challenges you must face even though you can’t see the light at the end just yet.”

...sailing “my life has goals; it’s just like doing things I don’t want to in sailing so I can make it to a special bay.”

...solo “I knew I had to last it because if I couldn’t overcome a difficulty, some time later in life a similar difficulty would come up and I would have wished I’d pulled through.”

....tramping “people say they can’t wait till the end of the tramp, but when they get there they feel like turning back and doing it again.

It’s just like life.”

Year 10 students’ reflect on their Tihoi experience.

St Paul’s Growth through creativity

Creativity, as an essential part of learning and development, is strongly encouraged at St Paul’s. The creative achievements of past and present students are part of the fabric of the School; the altar, prayer desks and candle sticks in the chapel were made by students as were the stunning religious murals. Many former teachers and students have left their beautiful creations as gifts to the School.

All endeavours, individual or collective, are distinguished by creativity and it is through the fine arts, the performing arts and technology that creative skills are developed. St Paul’s encourages students in creative expression both within the core curriculum and through a wide variety of co-curricular activities which cover these areas of learning.

Facilities for creative expression are already excellent and include; a technology block with a well-equipped woodwork shop, a metalwork room, a design and technology facility and an artroom.

However, the projects of young artists frequently extend into the unusual, so the School will always aim to seek out new creative learning experiences for students who express an interest in a particular project, no matter how fanciful.

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St Paul’s Music and the arts

Music is an integral part of many aspects of School life - educational, social, spiritual and artistic. The study and appreciation of music aids learning by developing skills such as listening with care, understanding themes and performing with confidence.

Musical ability is strongly supported within the curriculum, the House system and through annual events like the School music festival.

The School has a number of resident groups which span the spectrum of musical styles. The orchestra specialises in classical music, the big band focuses on jazz, the concert band plays easy listening music and the choir leads the chapel services. Several rock bands are also active and have demonstrated considerable success in regional competitions.

The School has a number of fine instruments, notably the chapel organ, the grand piano and the harpsichord. The School’s Director of Music ensures that students have the opportunity to develop their talents to the fullest extent whatever their choice of instrument or musical appreciation.

The dramatic arts also play a significant role in School life. From junior drama classes to public speaking and debating all the way to performance in School plays, students are given opportunities to develop their presentation and performance skills to whatever level they aspire.

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St Paul’s Learning through sports

It is natural that St Paul’s, an independent School with a sense of tradition, places a strong emphasis on sport as an integral part of the all-round development of its students. The concepts of teamwork, fitness, personal discipline and competition are all essential ingredients for the world of tomorrow and as such, they are fostered at St Paul’s.

For most students, School sport provides the opportunity to release some study stresses through physical activity and to enjoy fitness and companionship. However, in the growing climate of professionalism in sport, there are many potentially highly rewarding career options including coaching, sports administration, sport development, sports medicine and for the talented few, involvement at a high level.

The School has a focus on sporting excellence in both training and competition. It has a number of coaches who are graded to the very highest level of training. Motivational and coaching sessions with visiting sports heroes are highlights of the School calendar.

The positive inspiration and enthusiasm which these professionals impart to students during their developmental years have clear benefits for students of all ages and abilities.

Sport plays an important part in the recreational and social life of St Paul’s. School spirit is always highly evident on School sports days. Our excellent record in sport gives the whole School a positive sense of collective achievement and pride.

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St Paul’s ... to glimpse the ultimate goal

During their time at St Paul’s all students will be exposed to personal challenges physical, spiritual and intellectual.

All students will be encouraged to give more than they feel capable of giving, to do more than they feel capable of doing.

But it is through that encouragement - and with the support of staff, students and their families - that all students will succeed in breaking through their own personal boundaries.

In doing so they will come to recognise their true potential. In helping others to do the same, they will come to recognise greater potential in others.

At St Paul’s, students come to see the mighty oak within the acorn and, just as importantly, they learn how to help it grow.

It is this lesson more than anything else which is the defining essence of St Paul’s Collegiate: every individual has unlimited potential which can only be unlocked with the support and understanding of others.

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stand firm in the faith

Further information on the curriculum and courses available at St Paul’s Collegiate is available from the School. A schedule of fees and expenses is also available.

The Headmaster can be contacted by prospective parents and will be available to meet them and their child or children at any convenient time.

For inquiries contact: St Paul’s Collegiate, Private Bag 3069 , Hamilton, New Zealand.

Telephone: 07 957 8899, (International: +64 7 957 8899), Facsimile: 07 957 8833, Website: www.stpauls.school.nz