Middleton Grange School
Middleton Grange School in Christchurch, New Zealand, is a state-integrated Christian co-educational Year 1 to 13 school. It's currently New Zealand's largest evangelical Christian school.
History
Established in 1964 by the Christian Schools Trust, as an independent Christian school and became integrated into the state system in 1996.Middleton Grange School belongs to the Christchurch Christian Schools Network and the New Zealand Association for Christian Schools.
The school premises used to house the Christchurch headquarters of the Maxim Institute, a conservative Christian thinktank. Bruce Logan was once Middleton Grange's former curriculum director.
The school was ordered in 2010 to apologise and compensate a former employee for firing him because of his homosexuality.
Structure
Middleton Grange School's academic structure consists of four departments, Primary School, Middle School, Senior College and International College.Primary School consists of students from years 1-6, Middle School consists of students from years 7-10 and Senior College consists of students from years 11-13
Primary School, Middle School and Senior College all have separate heads. The Head of Primary School is Rod Thompson, the Head of Middle School is Mike Barlow, and the Head of Senior College is Ruth Velluppillai.
Years 7-13 all have Deans or Learning Team Leaders for each year. The current principal is Mike Vanoort.
Academics
As a state-integrated school, Middleton Grange follows the New Zealand Curriculum. In Years 11 to 13, students complete the National Certificate of Educational Achievement, the main secondary school qualification in New ZealandAttendance
Primary School
Each year group in the primary school approximately 48 pupilsYear Group | Attendance |
1 | 35 |
2 | 46 |
3 | 48 |
4 | 42 |
5 | 55 |
6 | 59 |
Middle School
Each year group has on average 124 pupilsYear Group | Attendance |
7 | 115 |
8 | 110 |
9 | 134 |
10 | 138 |
Senior College
Each year group has 197 pupils on averageYear Group | Attendance |
11 | 194 |
12 | 212 |
13 | 185 |
In total, the school has 1373 pupils
Houses
Pupils and teachers are divided into specific houses which then compete in sporting and cultural activities. There are four of these, named after early British explorers of Antarctica, as Robert Falcon Scott stayed at Middleton Grange's original gentry house before embarking on his ill-fated expedition.Scott | Named after Robert Falcon Scott CVO, who was a British Royal Naval officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13. | |
Wilson | Named after Dr Edward Adrian Wilson . He was a notable English polar explorer, physician, naturalist, painter and ornithologist. | |
Shackleton | Named after Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton CVO OBE,, an Anglo-Irish explorer who was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. | |
Bowen | Named after Sir Charles Bowen. He was a prominent mountaineer and explorer of the Andes, and a Christchurch City Council member. |
Notable alumni
- Graham Capill - Former leader, Christian Heritage, later convicted of sexual offences. Eldest son of Don Capill, First Middleton Grange Vice-Principal.
- Jeremy Kench - Professional basketball player
- Olivia Podmore - Professional racing cyclist
- William Stedman - 2x bronze medal Paralympian
Notable staff
- Vic Pollard
- Bruce Logan