About St Paul’s

St Paul’s Collegiate School is a private day and boarding school that offers a boy’s only junior school from Years 9 to 10 (ages 13-15) and a co-educational senior school for Years 11-13 (ages 15-18 years).

St Paul’s is located in the middle of Hamilton city on 19-hectares of pristine gardens and grounds. It is close to Westfield Shopping Centre, Porritt Athletic Stadium and the University of Waikato.

St Paul’s welcomes international students either as boarders living on campus or as day students living in homestay accommodation. All students are provided with a safe and secure environment where they can concentrate on their learning and develop their individual talents.

Pastoral care of international students

St Paul’s is a signatory to the Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students developed by the New Zealand Ministry of Education. Copies of the code are available from the NZQA website.

Academics

The New Zealand secondary school year starts at the end of January and ends in early December. It is preferred that students in Years 11 to 13 attend school from the beginning of the year. Year 9 and 10 students are welcome to start anytime throughout the year.

St Paul’s offers two secondary school qualifications, NCEA, a New Zealand qualification, and Cambridge International, an internationally accepted qualification. All lessons are in English and international students undertake a full course of study alongside New Zealand students. In Years 9 and 10 there is a core curriculum of seven subjects. In Years 11 to 13 students choose five or six subjects.

Small class sizes of less than 20 allow students to receive regular one-on-one learning time with their teachers. This personalised and rigorous programme results in St Paul’s graduates enrolling in world class universities including Auckland, Waikato, Sydney, Melbourne, Cambridge, Duke and Yale.

International Student Prospectus

Tihoi Venture School

Tihoi Venture School is St Paul’s second campus for Year 10 boys (14-15 years old) which is located near Taupo. It is New Zealand’s only 18-week back-to-basics outdoor adventure programme. The school’s philosophy is based on ‘character development through adventure’.

At Tihoi, Year 10 boys are required to live without modern technology such as television and mobile phones and are placed into communal living with seven peers, regular schooling and outdoor experiences. They live and work together, taking responsibility for their own housekeeping and food preparation.

Each week the boys spend three days in the outdoors and four days in the classroom where they participate in an academic programme in all mainstream subjects. Outdoor pursuits include kayaking, sailing, rock climbing, mountain craft, sea kayaking, caving, bush survival, hiking, abseiling and the high ropes challenge course.

Here is a testimonial in Chinese from student, Stark Sun, about his Tihoi experience.

Music, culture and technology

Students are encouraged to embrace music, drama and art while at St Paul’s. Every Year 9 boy must learn to play a musical instrument and participate in the class band programme. The school also boasts a well-equipped art room, design and technology facility, dark room and metal/wood workshop.

Sport

Participation in a summer and winter sport is compulsory. The school has first-class sports facilities including an international spec hockey turf, tennis courts, squash courts, heated 25m swimming pool, gymnasium, basketball, volleyball courts and extensive outdoor playing fields.

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