Remember Year 9 Social studies?
Year 9 Social Studies gave every student the opportunity to study and understand the history behind Macleans College. Everyone has been through memorising the charities of every house and the year they were built. Some found it unnecessary, while others found it, at the very most, boring to be learning about such an egregious thing. But alas, let me lecture you again, bringing you back to your humble beginnings.
First starting out from humble farmers from a humble land, our school was built upon what was then nothing but just a good piece of land owned by the MacLean family. The MacLean family were immigrants from Great Britain, and because they decided to move to New Zealand, The Crown had granted them lots of land. Majority of the land had been turned into recreational park after the two world wars, and now most of it turned into a school.
With the giant supply of new residential areas being built around Bucklands and Eastern Beach, there was in need of another school to support the demand. Therefore, Colin Prentice opened Macleans College in 1980, with the first house being Hilliary. In 1981, Kupe house was opened by Hiwi Tauroa and became the second standing house of Macleans on the south side. Soon after, Rutherford was opened in 1982 right beside Kupe.
If you didn’t know, the order and timing of the house openings were determined by their locations. For instance, Upham and Snell, which became houses in the 2000s, are situated closer to the road on the north side. On the other hand, Kupe and Rutherford are more inland, indicating their status as older houses.
The founding principles of Macleans College that Colin Prentice laid down are still being used to this day. The intense encouragement for all students to participate in one extracurricular has been around for over forty years, and the Whānau system has fostered many students for even longer. The importance of high quality education at Macleans College has been displayed in full-throttle for a number of years now, with many of our current students and ex-students reaching international levels with their base founding from Macleans College.
Macleans College turns forty-three years old this year, and the three cornerstones of Macleans roots that served us from the very beginning are still being upheld today. The values of belonging to a Whānau, the pursuit of higher education, and the importance of extracurricular activities remain vibrant and essential elements of our school’s identity.
May 20th, 2023
Emma Li
