Wesley College, in Pukekohe, was established in 1844 and is New Zealand's oldest registered secondary school. Photo / File
Wesley College, in Pukekohe, was established in 1844 and is New Zealand's oldest registered secondary school. Photo / File
An Auckland school ordered to close its boarding hostels from this Friday amid student safety concerns says it is pushing to keep dorms open until the end of the year.
The Ministry of Education has ordered Wesley College - the country’s oldest school - to close its hostels atthe end of this week after serious and “harmful” incidents related to student safety. The Ministry said it was suspending Wesley’s licence to house boarders, effective from this Friday.
The trust board urgently met with education officials today and trust board chair Jan Tasker said that the school was taking“immediate steps to meet the Ministry’s requirements”.
“We are working constructively with the Ministry to ensure that boarders are able to remain in their dorms until the end of the school year.
“The school is taking immediate steps to meet the Ministry’s requirements. We are also obtaining legal advice about what further steps the trust board will take in relation to issues the Ministry has raised and the notice of suspension.”
‘Serious and ongoing concerns about the safety and wellbeing’
“This decision [to close the hostels] follows a pattern of serious and ongoing concerns about the safety and wellbeing of boarders,” the Ministry of Education’s Sean Teddy said in a statement to the Herald.
“While some improvements have been made since special conditions were imposed on the hostel’s renewed licence in April 2025, further serious incidents have occurred this year. These incidents have highlighted persistent issues with student safety, staff oversight and the hostel’s ability to shift away from longstanding practices that place boarders at risk.”
ERO’s recommendation to suspend the licence was made in a September report. The office has refused a request from the Herald to proactively release that report.
Teddy said that the ERO’s recommendation, “alongside the Ministry’s own monitoring and the recurrence of harmful incidents, has led to the conclusion that continued operation of the hostel in its current state is not in the best interests of boarders”.
Wesley College is on Auckland's southern border. Photo / File
While international boarders and any students sitting NCEA assessments will be able to stay on to complete the term, all others must leave by this Friday.
“These safeguards apply solely to the interim exam period of term 4, 2025. The hostel remains subject to closure in 2026, as previously announced by the Wesley College Trust Board, and the licence remains suspended as outlined in the official suspension notice,” Teddy said.
“The ministry remains focused on making sure that all boarders are safe and supported and will continue to work closely with the school and families to manage this transition.”
Wesley College announced last month that the hostels would close at the end of this term “for a period sufficient to ensure meaningful and lasting improvements are achieved”.
The school said the decision followed “ongoing concerns about student safety and hostel culture” and that its trust board accepted “further deep, structural change is required”.
“Student safety and wellbeing are our highest priority,” Tasker said last month.
“We acknowledge that our hostel provision has not yet met the consistent standard we expect. Closing the hostels is a decisive step that will allow us to reset the culture, systems and facilities once and for all.”
