Tereora College is a secondary school in

Nikao Nikao is a village settlement on Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. It is located on the north coast to the west of the capital Avarua. Nikao is the home of the Parliament of the Cook Islands, Tereora College (the oldest secondary school), Nikao's ...

Rarotonga Rarotonga is the largest and most populous of the Cook Islands. The island is volcanic, with an area of , and is home to almost 75% of the country's population, with 10,898 of a total population of 15,040. The Parliament of the Cook Islands, Coo ...

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

. It is the oldest secondary school in the Cook Islands and the national college of the Cook Islands for Year 9–13 students. The school was first established in 1895 by the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed tradition, Reformed in outlook, with ...

. It closed in 1911 by the New Zealand colonial administration. It was re-opened in 1954 as a public school. The junior school offers the Cook Islands National Curriculum, while the senior school offers levels 1 - 3 of the New Zealand

National Certificate of Educational Achievement The National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) is the official secondary-school qualification in New Zealand. Phased in between 2002 and 2004, it replaced three older secondary-school qualifications. The New Zealand Qualifications A ...

. The school buildings were built in the 1950s, but by 2015 were old and damp. In 2015 during the celebrations of the Cook Islands' 50th anniversary of self-government, New Zealand Prime Minister

John Key Sir John Phillip Key (born 9 August 1961) is a New Zealand retired politician who served as the 38th prime minister of New Zealand from 2008 to 2016 and as leader of the National Party from 2006 to 2016. Following his father's death when ...

announced an $11.7 million gift to redevelop the college. The redevelopment was to be designed by two former students who had studied architecture in New Zealand, and run in partnership with the

Cook Islands investment Corporation Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * Ch ...

. New Zealand Prime Minister

Jacinda Ardern Dame Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician and activist who was the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, leader of the Labour Party from 2017 to 2023. She was ...

opened stage one of the redevelopment in March 2018. A book on the early history of the school, ''Below the Bluff at Nikao'', was published in 1995. Ardern Tereora College 2018

School ''Anau''

The school groups students into four ''anau'' each named for a mountain on Rarotonga: Students stay in the same ''anau'' class for their whole time at school.

Notable alumni

* Pa George Karika (born 1893), soldier and ''ariki'' *

Jim Marurai Jim Marurai (9 July 1947 – November 2020) was a Cook Islands politician who served as Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from 2004 to 2010. He was a member of the Democratic Party (Cook Islands), Democratic Party. Personal life Marurai wa ...

(born 1947), 8th Prime Minister of the Cook Islands * Mike Tavioni (born 1947), artist * Mark Brown, Current

Prime Minister of the Cook Islands The prime minister of the Cook Islands is the head of government of the Cook Islands, a self-governing territory in Associated state, free association with New Zealand. The office was established in 1965, when H ...

* Teariki Heather (born 1959), politician and former

Deputy Prime Minister of the Cook Islands The deputy prime minister of the Cook Islands is the second most senior officer in the government of the Cook Islands. From 1965 to 1981, the position was called the deputy premier. When the office of premier was renamed to prime minister ...

* Margharet Matenga (born 1955/56), netball player, NZ

Silver Ferns The New Zealand national netball team, commonly known as the Silver Ferns ( or ), represent Netball New Zealand in international netball tournaments such as the Netball World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the Taini Jamison Trophy, the Constell ...

& Cook Is *

Ngamau Munokoa Ngamau Mere Munokoa (born 13 August 1944), also known as "Aunty Mau", is a Cook Islands politician and former Cabinet Minister. She was the third woman ever elected to the Cook Islands Parliament, the second appointed to Cabinet, and the first ...

(born 1944), Cabinet Minister and the first woman Deputy Prime Minister *

Tina Browne Tina Pupuke-Browne (born 4 April 1955) is a Cook Islands politician and a member of the Parliament of the Cook Islands, Cook Islands Parliament. She is the leader of the Democratic Party (Cook Islands), Democratic Party. Career Brown was born in ...

, lawyer and Democratic party leader * William (Smiley) Heather (born 1958), Deputy Democratic Party leader * Terepai Maoate Jnr (born 1961), Former MP

Notable staff

* Bali Haque

References

{{reflist Schools in the Cook Islands Avarua Educational institutions established in 1895 1896 establishments in the British Empire