Rolleston College

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Rolleston College
Horoeka Haemata
Rolleston College Logo.jpg
Rolleston College 27.jpg
Rolleston College in 2021
Location
Rolleston College
631 Springston Rolleston Road

Canterbury

Rolleston
,
7678
Information
School type State co-educational secondary (Year 9–13)
Motto Māori: He kākano i ruia mai i Rangiatea.
(The seed will not be lost.)
Opened30 January 2017;9 years ago (30 January 2017)
School boardBoard of Trustees
Ministry of Education Institution no. 654
ChairpersonLeanne Chapman
PrincipalRachel Skelton
Key peopleSophie Ralph, Cameron Winsloe, Raewyn Hooper, Ryan Wilson, Alby Wilson, Kelly Tippett, Seb Surry, Bronwyn Hoy, Sarah Forward [1]
Enrollment1,846 (October 2025)
Website https://www.rollestoncollege.nz/

Rolleston College is a co-educational state high school in the town of Rolleston, New Zealand. [2] [3] It is the only secondary school in the town. [3] The school is one of the largest secondary schools in the South Island, with 1,783 students attending as of October 2025. [4] [5]

Contents

History

Construction on the school began in July 2015, and was completed in January 2017. [6]

Rolleston College was opened on 30 January 2017, and was initially open only to Year 9 students in the first year of secondary school. The school added year levels annually as the 2017 Year 9 cohort moved through; the school opened to all year levels (Years 9 to 13) in January 2021. [7]

At the time of opening, Rolleston College was the first state high school to open in Canterbury in more than 30 years. [8] Prior to Rolleston College's opening, the nearest secondary school to Rolleston was Lincoln High School in the town of Lincoln. [9]

Staff

The school consists of approximately 150 teachers, and 200 total staff. [10] The current principal is Rachel Skelton who replaced the founding principal Steve Saville in 2020 after he stepped down in December 2019. [10] [11] [12] [8]

Future expansions

The school plans to create a second campus, as the original campus was not designed to cater for upwards of 1,500 students. [6] The second campus is planned to house senior students, while the original campus would be exclusively for juniors [13] The second campus is expected to open in 2025. [14]

There has been some criticism of this decision, with some critics saying that opting to create a second secondary school in Rolleston would have been the more favorable decision. [15]

Then-Minister of Education Chris Hipkins said at the end of 2021, when making the land purchase announcement, that the expansion would take the college’s capacity to about 3400 students. [14] If the school reaches or exceeds its future capacity, that would make Rolleston College the largest school in New Zealand, beating out Rangitoto College in Auckland, which has around 3200 students. [5]

Enrolment

As of October 2025, Rolleston College has roll of 1,846 students, of which 231 (12.5%) identify as Māori. [4]

As of 2025, the school has an Equity Index of 449, [16] placing it amongst schools whose students have average socioeconomic barriers to achievement (roughly equivalent to deciles 5 and 6 under the former socio-economic decile system). [17]

References

  1. ↑ "Senior Leadership Team". Rolleston College. Retrieved 20 February 2026.
  2. ↑ "Rolleston College". www.christchurchnz.com. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  3. 1 2 Harris, Dominic (9 December 2021). "New campus for growing number of students at school in one of NZ's fastest-growing towns". Stuff . Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  4. 1 2 "New Zealand Schools Directory". New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
  5. 1 2 "Roll growth leads to further extensions at Rolleston College". The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  6. 1 2 "Rolleston College". Education in New Zealand. 3 April 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  7. ↑ "Minister announces establishment of new schools for Rolleston". The Beehive. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  8. 1 2 "Rolleston College - the face of ultra-modern learning". SchoolNews - New Zealand. 6 June 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  9. ↑ Counts, Education. "Ministry of Education - Education Counts". www.educationcounts.govt.nz. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  10. 1 2 "Rolleston College - Our People". www.rollestoncollege.nz. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  11. ↑ "New principal takes reins at college". Otago Daily Times . 13 December 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  12. ↑ O'Callaghan, Jody (2 August 2015). "Rolleston College names founding principal Steve Saville". Stuff . Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  13. ↑ "Rolleston College - Second Campus". www.rollestoncollege.nz. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  14. 1 2 S, Susan; ys (13 June 2022). "Second campus at Rolleston College a step closer". Otago Daily Times . Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  15. ↑ S, Susan; ys (31 January 2022). "Is the super school in Rolleston a good idea?". Otago Daily Times . Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  16. ↑ "New Zealand Equity Index". New Zealand Ministry of Education.
  17. ↑ "School Equity Index Bands and Groups". www.educationcounts.govt.nz. Retrieved 6 February 2025.

43°36′15″S172°23′20″E / 43.6042°S 172.3888°E / -43.6042; 172.3888

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