Onslow College is a state co-educational secondary school located in Johnsonville, a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. In 2022 it had 1405 students. The current principal is Sheena Millar.

History

Onslow College opened in 1956 to serve Wellington's rapidly growing northern suburbs. It was named after the 4th Earl of Onslow, governor of New Zealand from 1889 to 1892. The school roll grew from 201 third form pupils in 1956 to 1180 pupils in 1969. Former principal Stuart Martin described the "Onslow Way" as "socially liberal but educationally conservative, decile 10 but physically run down". In 1969, Peggy-Anne Wendelken became New Zealand's first woman chair of a school board of governors; at this time Onslow's board had student representation, twenty years before this became a legal requirement. The school has not had a school uniform since 1974 when it was abolished following student protest, despite the strong opposition of the Headmaster. In 2016 Onslow was one of the first schools in the region to have gender-neutral toilets for students. Several staff have received awards for teaching excellence. Terry Burrell, received the prestigious Prime Minister's Science Teacher Prize in 2014, and the same year Esme Danielsen (Maths) received a Woolf Fisher Fellowship. Onslow students won The Prime Minister's Future Scientist Prize in 2009, 2016 and 2018. Music – Smokefree Rockquest Wellington regional finalists in 2021 were Obsidian Sun. In 2016 Onslow College bands and individuals took out five of the eight awards the Regional Final: Best Vocalist – Raquel Abolins-Reid, Musicianship Award – Noah Spargo, Best Lyricist – Sarah Mc Bride, 3rd placed band – Bird on a Wire, 1st placed band and overall winners of the Wellington Regional Final – Retrospect. In 2017 Onslow College won the Wellington regional "Festival Cup" for the school best representing the spirit of the Big Sing, a school choral festival organised by the New Zealand Choral Federation. On 13 February 1997, 18-year-old former student Nicholas Hawker murdered 15-year-old St Mary's College student Vanessa Woodman on the school's grounds. Hawker was sentenced to life imprisonment with a 10-year non-parole period. He was released on parole in 2015, but is not allowed in the North Island.

School Buildings

On Friday 25 October 2024 the school received an engineering report on two of the school's blocks stating they were earthquake prone. The first building listed was the O block which was discovered to have a New Building Standard (NBS) ratting of 30%, with an inner stairwell having a ratting of 15% and the building having a 6% inter-story drift between floors. The second building listed was the Gym (Block Q) which has an NBS ratting of 15% with the celling braces posing the greatest risk. As a result of the low NBS ratting on these two buildings the school has made the decision for the two buildings to be closed until further notice.

Principals

The school has had the following principals:

Notable alumni

Academia

The arts

Broadcasting and journalism

Politics

Sport

Notable staff