Wilson Bay Farm is our new third campus, offering a unique natural environment that will broaden and enrich the Saint Kentigern learning journey. Here, students will learn by getting involved; exploring nature, applying knowledge in real-world contexts, and developing confidence, character and connection in ways that complements and extends classroom learning across our schools.
A Place of Possibility and Promise
Located on the western coast of the Coromandel Peninsula overlooking the Firth of Thames, the 1,000-acre property combines coastal access and working farmland, offering a landscape of scale and variety ideal for authentic, hands-on learning for students from Years 4 to 13.
Since acquiring the Farm in April 2025, made possible through the generosity of the Saint Kentigern Alumni Association and several of its members, significant groundwork has taken place to better understand the land, its potential, and the foundations required for long-term educational use.
A governance structure has been established by the Trust Board, with a Steering Committee guiding planning across curriculum, infrastructure, operations and farm management. While still early in the journey, staged development will unfold over time, shaped by educational need, learning opportunity and community partnership. Initial student experiences at the Farm are planned from 2027.
Why Wilson Bay Farm matters
Learning deepens when students are in a setting that invites them to engage with the world around them while they explore and make sense of it. Wilson Bay Farm offers this shift, enabling students to step out from their familiar school environment and immerse themselves in nature, where weather, land, water and living systems create authentic variables to respond to.
Students will build on the strong foundation acquired from school and apply it in new ways. Passion will move from theory into practice. Science will be tested in the field, teamwork strengthened through shared tasks, and challenge will become a catalyst for resilience, leadership and self-belief. Understanding will be developed through lived experience, shaped by problem-solving, collaboration and shared responsibility.
Accessible by road and by boat, approximately 90 minutes from Half Moon Bay, Wilson Bay Farm will, over time, become a place where generations of students learn differently, grow with confidence, and return with life skills, perspective and memories that stay with them long after they leave school.
Learning at the Farm
Students will engage in practical, experience-led learning shaped by the land, from caring for stock and growing food, to navigating bush tracks, restoring habitats and working together on community projects. Over time, programmes could include agribusiness, horticulture and science-based agriculture, strengthening students’ understanding of New Zealand’s primary sector and the skills and innovation that will shape the future workforce.
The Farm will continue operating as a working property, with early planning focused on day-to-day farm operations, sustainable stock management and land care.
Curriculum planning is currently in early development and will progress through 2026 to ensure alignment with learning across our schools.
Education Coming to Life
Residential Village –
A shared space of belonging
From the earliest days of Saint Kentigern, when our founders stood on open farmland in Pakuranga and when Bruce House first gathered young people into a community of shared living, places of belonging have played a defining role in how our students grow.
These shared spaces, where students learn, live and support one another, have forged some of the strongest bonds in our community. The residential village at Wilson Bay Farm continues this legacy, envisioned as a home away from home where students develop independence, connection and confidence.
Positioned at the heart of the Farm, the proposed residential village draws on the familiar rhythms and values of Bruce House while responding to the natural landscape of Wilson Bay. The design concept is intended to bring students and staff together in a compact cluster of cabins, shared common rooms and a central dining hall, with a proposed layout created taking into consideration safety, supervision, comfort and community. The chosen ridgeline site offers elevation, natural shelter, and views across the bay and farmland, providing a calm environment that supports purposeful residential learning.
This early design concept will allow for accommodation of approximately 100 students, along with staff housing and essential facilities. Resource Consent for the village has been lodged, and the next phase of work will focus on detailed design and enabling works, including essential services, road access and ground preparation.
By Alumni, For the Future
Wilson Bay Farm carries forward the long tradition of community support that has helped Saint Kentigern grow for generations.
As planning continues and the campus takes shape over time, there will be opportunities for alumni, families and partners to contribute in meaningful ways.
If you would like to explore opportunities to contribute time or expertise to support programme development, operational planning or community engagement, please contact:
wilsonbayfarm@saintkentigern.com
Alumni are also encouraged to support the development of the Wilson Bay Farm campus through a financial contribution that will help create a lasting legacy for future students.
To learn more about the Saint Kentigern Foundation, please click on the logo:
To discuss your philanthropic support, please email foundation@saintkentigern.com
