Teenaa koe
I am incredibly proud to be the Headmaster of St Paul’s Collegiate School.
Who are we?
Based in the heart of Waikato, St Paul’s is an independent co-educational secondary school, focused on providing outstanding learning opportunities for more than 880 young people who live and/or learn on our Kirikiriroa Hamilton Campus.
Our 200-plus staff enjoy the privilege of working with our students in teaching and support roles in the pursuit of cultivating in each young person a sense of purpose and contribution beyond themselves.
What shapes us?
The history of St Paul’s commenced with a desire of our founders to provide a robust and values-based education, rooted firmly in an Anglican tradition. The school’s early years saw a significant number of students drawn from rural areas. To this day, we remain steadfast in our mission to provide premier boarding experiences for the more than 300 students who reside on our Hamilton Campus.
Our daily structure seeks to keep all students busy and connected. Early school starts and later finishes, with an extended lunchtime where our catering team serve all members of our school community with a variety of hot lunch options, are some of the ways we achieve this goal.
We believe that all Year 10 students should experience a significant outdoor education-based immersive experience in the great natural environments of the Central North Island; our team at the Tihoi Venture School deliver this. When cohorts of 72 Year 10 students are removed from their electronic devices, grouped to live in a community with their peers, taught essential communication skills, and challenged to explore the great outdoors, the exponential character growth is glaringly evident.
What matters most to us?
When young people feel like they truly belong to something bigger than themselves, they naturally will give their all. Upon arrival at St Paul’s, every student is assigned to a house, a place and group to call their own. Throughout their journey, a student’s housemates, the pastoral house staff, and their wider group of peers and teachers become like family, helping to support their goals and aspirations.
At the centre of a St Paul’s education are specialist classroom teachers who passionately share academic knowledge and skills to allow students to achieve qualifications that open a myriad of further learning opportunities beyond our gates. Our small class sizes, with an average size of 20 students or less, provide individualised attention to ensure students are pushed and are accountable for their learning progress.
We want young people to be involved in a number of activities outside the classroom that grow capability, passion, and deeper connections with their peers and our staff. Compulsory sport for all students, compulsory itinerant music lessons for Year 9 students, and an active encouragement to participate in a wide variety of performing arts offerings are essential to creating well-rounded, healthy young people.
We meet daily in The Chapel of Christ the King for either full-school chapel services or full-school assemblies, recognising that in these spaces members of our community are nourished, informed and celebrated. Encouraging young people to contribute widely via the large number of service programmes available is central to our Anglican Christian character.
We believe success looks different for every young person and helping them to achieve such outcomes starts with a settled, structured and traditional approach. Outstanding teachers, expecting high standards of behaviour, and instilling in every young person a sense that anything is possible if they commit themselves to the cause, are at the heart of what we proudly provide.
Ben Skeen
Headmaster
Find out what makes St Paul’s unique here.
