St Thomas of Canterbury College


St Thomas of Canterbury College is a college for year 7 to 13 boys and offers a Catholic education to its students. It is located in Christchurch, New Zealand. The college is integrated into the state education system under an integration agreement which was first entered into by the Christian Brothers and the Government of New Zealand on 11 November 1981 under Section 7 of the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act 1975. St Thomas of Canterbury College is located in the Christchurch suburb of Sockburn.

Roll

In 2006 the ethnic composition of St Thomas of Canterbury College was New Zealand European/Pākeha 72%, Māori 7%, Samoan 3%, Other Pacifica 1%, Asian 13%, Middle Eastern 2% and Others 2%. The college excels in sporting, cultural, scientific and enterprise activities. Academically, the school offers for senior years the National Certificate of Educational Achievement assessment system. The College has an enrolment scheme "to avoid overcrowding, or the likelihood of overcrowding" that gives priority of enrolment to students if they meet the defined criteria of connection with the Catholic faith and live within the Catholic Parishes of Sockburn, Hornby and Darfield, Riccarton, Hoon Hay and Halswell, Leeston, Lincoln and Akaroa. These are generally to the west and south of the city of Christchurch

History

Origins

A Christian Brothers' school in Christchurch was first proposed in the 1880s. The third Catholic Bishop of Christchurch, Patrick Francis Lyons acquired land on Sockburn in West Christchurch and formally invited the Christian Brothers to provide the staff. There was no progress for several years. Eventually Brother Marlow, the Provincial of the Christian Brothers, and Edward Michael Joyce, the fourth Catholic Bishop of Christchurch, agreed, and St Thomas of Canterbury College held its first classes on 6 February 1961.

Early days

The initial roll was 99 students in Forms 1–3. The foundation staff were Brothers James Ignatius McClintock.

2011 earthquake

Except for minor damage, the college was spared by the Christchurch earthquakes. As a result of the 22 February earthquake in 2011, Catholic Cathedral College relocated to St Thomas of Canterbury College and "site shared". The reason for this was that although it was not significantly damaged, parts of Catholic Cathedral College were under the unstable 400-ton dome of the Christchurch Catholic Cathedral. Because the dome was in imminent danger of collapse, the college had to move. St Thomas' restricted its own use of the school to the morning and Catholic Cathedral College took over the school in the afternoon. The dome was removed on 26 July and Catholic Cathedral College moved back to its own site on 1 August 2011.

Golden jubilee

In spite of the threat of earthquakes, the college celebrated its Golden Jubilee or 50th anniversary on 6–9 October 2011. "Around three hundred people were present and they revelled in: sports, fire dances, haka, tours, hangi, dancing, food, drink, rugby and spiritual celebrations." The events included a "50th Jubilee Celebration Day" to allow Old Boys to meet the pupils and see the school operating during a school day. An assembly included a Powhiri, Waiata and other songs, a Samoan fire dance, a PowerPoint presentation of the history of the College, the presentation of a time capsule and the cutting of a Jubilee Cake. John Airey, the first student to arrive at the college on 6 February 1961 was presented to the assembly. This was followed by a Hangi. There were sporting competitions with St Kevin's College to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of sporting exchanges between the two Colleges. St Thomas's won the Rugby, but lost the Basketball and the Football. A cricket match had to be cancelled because of rain. The 50th Celebration Dinner was held at the Showgate Room at Riccarton Raceway Function Centre. Former staff members including Christian Brothers were present. All these events were timed not to clash with games of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The Jubilee Mass was celebrated by Bishop Barry Jones of Christchurch on Sunday 9 October in the St Thomas of Canterbury College hall.

Christian Brothers

The last Christian Brother involvement on the teaching staff of the college was in the early 2000s, but the Christian Brothers, as proprietors, continued to appoint their representatives to the board under the Private School Conditional Integration Act 1975. In 2019, the Christian Brothers transferred ownership of the college to the Bishop of Christchurch and so ceased, after 58 years, to have any formal institutional connection with the college.

Houses

The names and colours of the St Thomas of Canterbury College Houses are: