Chilton Saint James School

Chilton Saint James School
Chilton Saint James School
Address
	124 Waterloo Road; Hutt Central; Lower Hutt 5010; New Zealand
Coordinates	41°12′37″S 174°54′49″E / 41.2104°S 174.9137°E
Information
Funding type	Private
Established	1918
Ministry of Education Institution no.	263
Principal	Caroline Robertson
Years offered	Preschool, Years 1–13
Gender	Female (Male students may be enrolled through the music or dance school)
School roll	267 (August 2024)
Socio-economic decile	10
Website	www.chilton.school.nz

Chilton Saint James School is a private single-sex girls composite school located in central Lower Hutt, New Zealand.

The school was founded in 1918 by Geraldine FitzGerald, and was a combined day and boarding school until the dormitories closed in the late 1970s.^[3]

Chilton St James has a roll of 267 students from Years 1 to 13 (ages 5 to 18) as of August 2024.^[2] The school also has a co-educational preschool for boys and girls from the age of 2.

In 2018 Chilton introduced the Cambridge curriculum. Alongside this change they opened the Chilton Ballet Academy (CBA), a co-ed dance training school that prepares young dancers to break into the industry.^[4]

The school runs the Chilton Dance Centre, which is co-educational and provides dance lessons and training in classical ballet, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, lyrical, tap, musical theatre dance and pilates to students from Preschool to Adults.

In 2020, the school also opened the Co-ed Chilton Music School (CMS) as a musical program to help prepare students who want to go into the music industry.

Enrolment

As a private school, Chilton St James receives little funding from the government and charges parents of students tuition fees to cover costs.

As of 2013, the school fees range from NZ$12,732 for Year 1–3 student to $17,080 for Year 9–13 students, inclusive of GST. A 7.5% fee discount applies if a student has one or more siblings also attending the school.^[5] Fees for international students are higher.

At the March 2013 Education Review Office (ERO) review, Chilton St James had 420 students, including four international students. 63% as New Zealand European (Pākehā), 9% as other European, 16% as Asian (including 5% as Indian), 6% as Māori, 3% as Pacific Islanders, and 4% as other ethnicities.^[6]

The school has a socio-economic decile of 10, meaning the school draws its students mainly from areas of little or no socio-economic deprivation. ^{[citation needed]}

Notable staff

Alice Candy, historian^[7]
Vera Chapman, artist^[8]

Notable alumnae

Teresa Bergman, singer-songwriter-guitarist^[9]
Honor Carter (née Dillon), New Zealand field hockey player
Alison Gray QSM, writer
Molly Macalister, artist
Stefania Owen, actress (Running Wilde, The Carrie Diaries)^[10]
Peggy Spicer, artist^[11]
Beth Ross, NZ representative rower

References

^ "Meet The Principal". Chilton Saint James School. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
^ ^a ^b "New Zealand Schools Directory". New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
^ "History in a nutshell". Chilton Saint James School. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
^ Wenman, Eleanor (15 April 2018). "Dance the day away: Life as a secondary school ballet student". Sunday Star Times.
^ "Chilton Saint James School Fees and Business Regulations" (PDF). Chilton Saint James School. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 July 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
^ "Chilton St James School Education Review". Education Review Office. 27 May 2013. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
^ Gardner, W. J. "Alice Muriel Flora Candy". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
^ McGahey, Kate (2000). The Concise Dictionary of New Zealand Artists. Wellington: Gilt Edge. p. 42.
^ "Take Note [sound recording] Items". Chilton Saint James School. 1997. Retrieved 4 January 2021 – via National Library of New Zealand.
^ McConnell, Rhiannon (25 February 2014). "Acting up in New York". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
^ "Peggy Spicer". www.arcadja.com. Retrieved 12 October 2017.