Wanganui Collegiate School made history at the beginning of 2010 and I couldn’t be more delighted. With histories collectively spanning more than 240 years, Wanganui Collegiate and St George’s schools have become a single entity that opened on February 1 as an independent, Anglican, co-educational Year 1-13 boarding and day school. It is a bright new beginning for all of us, which will have many benefits for our students, staff and school community.

While both schools have always been governed by the Whanganui College Board of Trustees, they have been stand-alone facilities. In March last year the board resolved to amalgamate the two by January 2010.
Wanganui Collegiate School now has two campuses – the Collegiate Campus for Year 9-13 boarding and day students and the St George’s Campus for Year 1-8 day students.
St George’s has been a fully authorised International Baccaulearate (IB) school for the Primary Years Programme for Years 1-6 since 2006. The IB programme takes the best of New Zealand and international curriculums and uses Inquiry to engage the students in a world-recognised learning programme.

St George’s was the second school in New Zealand to adopt the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) and its success has led the board to seek approval from the IB Organisation to introduce the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) into Years 7 to 11 across both St George’s and Collegiate campuses. Collegiate stands for a lot that is important in today’s world – honour, integrity, compassion, courage and, of course, a first-class education. I believe that by fostering these important values, we can promote the development of versatile, well-rounded young people, who are capable of making strong contributions to society.

Tim Wilbur
Headmaster