Our history
Marian College opened in 1982,
with the merging of two similar
Catholic secondary schools
for girls.
St Mary’s College, opened by the Sisters
of Mercy in Colombo Street in 1894, had
a proud tradition of Catholic education,
while McKillop College in Shirley,
administered by the Sisters of St Joseph
of the Sacred Heart, had provided both
boarding and day facilities.
With the onset of integration, these two
schools merged into a larger secondary
school on the McKillop College site in
North Parade. The Catholic Bishop of
Christchurch is the proprietor.
Marian College was officially opened
on 25 March 1982, the feast day of
the Annunciation of the Lord, which
celebrates Mary’s role in becoming the
Mother of God. The school crest is a
simple “M” with a coronet, the symbol
for Mary.
Following the 22 February 2011
earthquake, Marian College was forced
to shift after the banks of the creek
slumped and the land suffered significant
damage. We were subsequently hosted
by St Bede’s College, our brother school,
before moving to our current central
premises on Barbadoes St in 2012.
While the exterior may have changed,
our heart is still the same.
4 MARIAN COLLEGE
PROSPECTUS
