Established 1982; 35 years ago Grades Years 7-13 Principal Jarlath Kelly Motto Rely on God School roll 674 (November 2015) | Ministry of Education Institution no. 408 Socio-economic decile 6N Phone +64 3-216 9039 Founded 1982 Ministry of education institution number 408 | |
Type Integrated co-educational secondary Similar James Hargest College S, Southland Girls' High School, Southland Boys' High School, Aurora College, Invercargill Middle School Profiles | ||
Verdon College is a co-educational Roman Catholic high school in Invercargill, New Zealand, teaching students from year 7 to 13 (ages 11–18). The college is named after Bishop Michael Verdon (1838–1918) who was the second Catholic Bishop of Dunedin (1896–1918). It has the highest rate of achievement in NCEA results for secondary schools in Invercargill city. In 2014 91.5% of Year 11 students achieved NCEA Level 1, 95.5% of Year 12 students achieved NCEA Level 2 and 78% of Year 13 students achieved NCEA Level 3. (roll based statistics)
Contents
History
Verdon College is a co-educational Catholic secondary school, created after an amalgamation in 1981 of Saint Catherine's College (single-sex high school for girls operated by the Dominican Sisters) and Marist College (single-sex high school for boys operated by the Marist Brothers). The Marist College site (which became Verdon College) was built on former farmland at the eastern boundary of Invercargill and the new combined Catholic high school was named after Bishop Verdon. Since the schools growth parts of the school are located on what used to be Cargill High and Te Wharekura O Arowhenua.
Bishop Verdon Block
In the mid-2000s, Verdon college acquired a gymnasium and a full-sized S68 design classroom block on the site of the former Cargill High School. A multimillion-dollar refurbishment of the acquired classroom block was completed in 2008 and named the Bishop Verdon Block, mainly for the year seven and eight students. It also contains two computer suites, a library, science laboratories and a study atrium.
Roll
The College has a current roll of 670 students with 51% male and 49% female. The school's ethnic composition contained NZ European/Pākehā 73%, Māori 20%, Pacific Islanders 3%, Other European 2% and Other 2%. It is very diverse.
The College offers a broad range of educational opportunities for student achievement in the areas of sport and culture as well as a diverse academic curriculum. The College's National Certificate of Educational Achievement results are significantly above national averages for achievement of NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3.