Roman Catholic high school in Invercargill, New Zealand, teaching students from year 7 to 13 (ages 11–18). The College is named after Bishop Michael Verdon (1838–1918) who was the second Catholic Bishop of Dunedin
(1896–1918). It has the highest rate of achievement in NCEA results for secondary schools in Invercargill city.
In 2022, 91.9% of Year 11 students achieved NCEA Level 1,[3] 82.9% of Year 12 students achieved NCEA Level 2,[3] and 52.3% of Year 13 students achieved NCEA Level 3.[3] In 2022, 19 students were given at least one Vocational Pathway Award.[4]
History
Verdon College is a co-educational
Catholic secondary school, established in 1982 through the 1981 amalgamation of St Catherine's College (a single-sex high school for girls operated by the Dominican Sisters) and Marist College (single-sex high school for boys operated by the Marist Brothers
).
The Marist College site (which became Verdon College) was built on former farmland at the eastern boundary of Invercargill and opened in 1969.[5] The new combined Catholic high school was named after Bishop Verdon. Due the school's growth parts of the school are located on what used to be Cargill High and Te Wharekura o Arowhenua.
These images are of the Marist College now Verdon College site.
1946
1956
1962
1974
1981
1988
2005-2011
2013-2014
2017
2022
Bishop Verdon Block
In the mid-2000s, Verdon college acquired a gymnasium and a full-sized S68 design classroom block on the site of the former Cargill High School. A multimillion-dollar refurbishment of the acquired classroom block was completed in 2008 and named the Bishop Verdon Block, mainly for the year seven and eight students. It also contains two computer suites, a library, a science laboratory, and a study atrium.[7]