Waitākere College

Waitākere College is a state coeducational secondary school located in Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand, established in 1975. A total of 1960 students from Years 9 to 13 (ages 13 to 18) attend Waitākere College as of July 2025.^[1]

Waitākere College
Address
42 Rathgar Road, Henderson, Auckland 0610, New Zealand
Coordinates	36°52′2″S 174°37′15″E
Information
Type	State, Co-educational, Secondary School (Year 9–13)
Motto	Achievement for All
Ministry of Education Institution no.	44
Principal	Mark Shanahan
School roll	1960[1] (July 2025)
Socio-economic decile	3I[2]
Website	waitakerecollege.school.nz

Students entering the college are allocated into one of three "Houses". The house names use Māori words: Aroha (Love), Manawanui (Perseverance), and Matauranga (Knowledge). Their respective mascots are; a Dragon, a Lion and a Dolphin. These three houses represent the school's three core values. During the course of the year students can earn points for their house with good behaviour and marks in class and participating in extracurricular activities. These points are added up every week in an assembly to determine the winner for that particular week. This also happens at the end of terms and a final one at the end of the year shows which house has won that year with the most points.

Waitākere College offers an extra 'Performing Arts' subject formerly run by Stephen Nightingale. Entry is based on an audition process and the course runs for years 9 and 10. It covers drama, dance, music, singing, theatre, film/television, editing, theatre lighting, make-up and costume.

Waitākere College is often used as a filming location for the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street, as the location of Ferndale High School.^[3]

Enrolment

As of July 2025, Waitākere College has a roll of 1960 students, of which 525 (26.8%) identify as Māori.^[1]

As of 2025, the school has an Equity Index of 482,^[4] placing it amongst schools whose students have above average socioeconomic barriers to achievement (roughly equivalent to deciles 4 and 5 under the former socio-economic decile system).^[5]

Notable alumni

Main category: People educated at Waitākere College

• Shayne Elliott (born 1963/64), New Zealand banker, CEO of ANZ Bank.^[6]
• Sione Lauaki (1981–2017), All Black^[7]