St. Bernard's College, Lower Hutt

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St Bernard's College
File:Stbernardsnz.jpg
Respice Stellam Voca Mariam
"Look To The Star, Call Upon Mary"
Address
183 Waterloo Road,
Lower Hutt,
New Zealand
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Information
Type State integrated boys Secondary (Year 7–13)
Established 1946
Ministry of Education Institution no. 260
Principal Simon Stack
School roll 653[1] (March 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:

  • The left panel shows a sword and a crown, symbolising the need to "fight the good fight so as to gain the crown of victory." This is an allusion to an exhortation of the Apostle Paul regarding the Catholic striving to live for Christ.
  • The centre panel has three fleur-de-Leisle, symbolic of three French connections with the school:
  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.
  • The cross on the right panel was worn by the Crusaders on their shields, and that St Bernard went around Europe preaching one of the Crusades.

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

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, Rugby, Rugby League, Rugby 7s, 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

Fourteen principals have served St. Bernard's College since its formation in 1946. Mr. Peter Fava announced his retirement to be the end of Term 3, 2015. Mr. Hedley Aitken serves as the interim principal for the rest of the year as Mr Simon Stack will start taking over by 2016.[3]

  • 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 Day)

Notable alumni

  • Josh Ailaomai - Rugby League
File:SBC Field.JPG
The main field in Saint Bernard's College

See also

References

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  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  • Pat Gallager, The Marist Brothers in New Zealand Fiji & Samoa 1876–1976, New Zealand Marist Brothers' Trust Board, Tuakau, 1976.

External links

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