Onslow College
Encyclopedia
Johnsonville, New Zealand
Johnsonville is a large suburb in northern Wellington, New Zealand. It is seven kilometres north of the city centre, at the top of the Ngauranga Gorge, on the main route to Porirua . The population of "J'ville" was about 6,500 at the 2001 census.- Public transport :Johnsonville is a reasonably...
, a suburb of Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. The school opened in 1956 to serve the city's rapidly-growing northern suburbs. The new Principal will be Mr. Peter Leggat, and he will begin at the start of the School year 2011.
The Onslow Way
The Onslow Way is one attribute of the College that gives its uniqueness and attraction to students within and outside the Northern Suburbs of Wellington. This is seen in the students attitude, both during and after their school years. The Students show a fresh and open attitude with an openly accepting mentality to accepting new and creative ideas, as well as openly accepting new students from other schools, years and countries. The Onslow Way also differentiates Onslow College from other schools in that the college does not have Prefects, Head Boys or Girls or College Houses.To replace the 'responsibility void' left by lack of a Prefect system, Onslow College has championed the 'Peer Mediation' system, where trained students talk to their peers about incidents that have occurred at school, such as bullying, isolation or drug use. This allows students to feel more comfortable while discussing these issues, without fear of retribution which invariably occurs in a staff members presence.
Students also have a large say in the running of the school. Each form class elects one or two representatives to a year level council, which then in turn appoint representatives to the school student council. Students can also put their names forward for nomination for the board of trustees. The student members of the board of trusties are appointed by a vote by the entire student body.
Students also sit on panels for job applicants, property matters, and many other facets of the running of the school.
Uniform policy
Onslow College is one of only three Colleges within the Wellington Region that has no officially enforced dress code. The uniform code was removed in protest of the students during the late 60's and early 70's. Uniforms were seen by the students as a waste of their teachers time and was slowly but eventually removed in stages; with the gloves and hats being the first to be removed. A school-wide student strike was the major turning point in the removal of the uniform, an event which attributed to the colleges individuality and its unique 'Onslow Way'.Prefect system
Onslow College has no Prefect System as well as no Head Boy or Head Girl; as it was seen as anti-democratic. Onslow was also one of the first schools to acquire a Student Council; to push the students concerns and views onto the Board of Trustees.The Arts
- David Beach - poet and winner of the biennial Prize in Modern Letters for his book of poems Abandoned Novel in 2008
- Chris Graham - film director
- Rosemary McLeodRosemary McLeodRosemary McLeod is a New Zealand writer, journalist, cartoonist and columnist. McLeod has written for New Zealand's major publications, including North & South, the Dominion, Sunday Star-Times, and the Listener....
- writer - Emily Perkins (novelist)Emily Perkins (novelist)Emily Perkins is a New Zealand author.Perkins first won attention in 1996 with her first collection of stories, Not Her Real Name and Other Stories...
- author - Taika WaititiTaika WaititiTaika Waititi , also known as Taika Cohen, is a New Zealand-born film director, writer, painter, comedian and actor named as one of Varietys "ten new directors to watch" in 2007....
- Oscar-nominated film director, writer, painter, comedian and actor - William Jackman - Singer/Songwriter and 2009 Play It Strange Singer/Songwriter Competition Winner
Broadcasting & journalism
- Tamati CoffeyTamati CoffeyTamati Coffey is a New Zealand television host and presenter. He is the roving weather presenter for TVNZ's breakfast television programme Breakfast. He has also worked on children's television show What Now, and was the winner of New Zealand's Dancing With The Stars in 2009...
- TVNZ's roving Breakfast weather presenter and 2009 Dancing with the Stars winner - Andrew MulliganAndrew MulliganAndrew Mulligan is a New Zealand television presenter. He co-hosts on Sky Television's PRIME TV channel at 6:30pm weekdays, The Crowd Goes Wild, with former New Zealand test cricketer Mark Richardson...
- television host of The Crowd Goes Wild and SKY TV Sports Presenter - Warwick SlowWarwick SlowWarwick Slow is a New Zealand radio DJ and media personality from Wellington, New Zealand. Formerly employed by Hit Radio X105, he was a regular on the stations night weekend shifts, before the stations closure on Tuesday 14 September 2010....
- radio DJ - Ian WishartIan WishartIan Wishart is a New Zealand journalist, author, an opponent to the hypothesis of anthropogenic climate change, and the editor of Investigate magazine...
- editor Investigate magazine - Rocky WoodRocky WoodRocky Wood is an award-nominated writer and researcher best-known for his books about horror author Stephen King. He is the first non-American to hold the position of President of the Horror Writers Association. Wood was born in Wellington New Zealand and lives in Melbourne, Australia with his...
- non-fiction author and freelance journalist
Public service
- Georgina BeyerGeorgina BeyerGeorgina Beyer was the world's first openly transsexual mayor, as well as the world's first openly transsexual Member of Parliament, and from 27 November 1999 until 14 February 2007 was an MP for the Labour Party in New Zealand.-Early life:Georgina Bertrand was born and assigned male at birth, and...
- the world's first transsexual Mayor and later MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
. - Catherine DelahuntyCatherine DelahuntyCatherine Delahunty is a current New Zealand MP representing the Green Party who was first elected to parliament in 2008. she is the Green Party spokesperson on Education, Forestry, Treaty of Waitangi, Civil Defence, Disability Issues, Women's Affairs, Arts & Culture; and associate spokesperson on...
- Green Party MP - Sandra LeeSandra Lee-VercoeSandra Rose Te Hakamatua Lee-Vercoe QSO is a former New Zealand politician and diplomat. She served as deputy leader of the Alliance party, and was later High Commissioner to Niue.-Early life:...
- first Maori woman to win a general seat in Parliament - Trevor MallardTrevor MallardTrevor Colin Mallard is a New Zealand politician. He was a Cabinet Minister in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand holding portfolios including Environment, Labour, Broadcasting, State Owned Enterprises, Rugby World Cup and Education. He was also Associate Minister of Finance.-Early...
- current Labour PartyNew Zealand Labour PartyThe New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....
politician and former Cabinet Minister
Sport
- Jeremy ConeyJeremy ConeyJeremy Vernon Coney MBE is a former New Zealand cricketer, who played 52 Test matches and 88 ODIs for New Zealand, captaining them in 15 Tests and 25 ODIs. He was one of New Zealand's most successful batsmen, at least by average, and he made 16 fifties, but centuries often eluded him and he had to...
- New Zealand cricket player - Gavin LarsenGavin LarsenGavin Rolf Larsen is a former New Zealand cricketer who specialised in the art of economical bowling. He was known playfully by his team mates as "The Postman", as mentioned in Danny Morrison's biography, Mad As I Wanna Be...
- New Zealand cricket player