Families pay $31,544 annually for senior students to attend the school<\/a>, and an extra $21,608 for boarders. A compulsory blazer at St Cuthberts College costs $350.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the first time the elite school has been in the news. <\/p>\n In 2024 a former teacher at St Cuthbert\u2019s<\/a> was cleared of wrongdoing after being accused of asking a teenage girl for a kiss and about her previous sexual experience.<\/p>\n However, the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal was at \u201cpains to point out\u201d it did not find the former St Cuthbert\u2019s College student\u2019s account unbelievable.<\/p>\n \u201cThis process is limited to whether we find the charge proven or not based on all of the evidence, which we do not,\u201d it said in its decision.<\/p>\n St Cuthbert\u2019s principal, Charlotte Avery, responded by sending alumnae a statement praising the former student for her courage in coming forward, saying it was important such allegations are properly investigated.<\/p>\n That same year, a father unsuccessfully attempted to block his daughter from attending the private girls\u2019 school,<\/a> a move her mother said would have been spurning a \u201cgolden ticket\u201d with smaller class sizes, better facilities and outstanding academic results.<\/p>\n A Family Court<\/a> judge ruled that the girl should attend St Cuthbert\u2019s College despite her father\u2019s objections that it was \u201celitist\u201d and mainly attended by children from privileged backgrounds. He instead wanted her to attend a state school<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 2020 then Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon spoke out after a teacher at St Cuthbert\u2019s used the N-word during a lesson<\/a> about white supremacy, prompting protests from some students and their families.<\/p>\n The teacher had quoted from African-American activist Malcolm X during the discussion and used the word in full.<\/p>\n The principal at the time then instructed staff \u201cthat the word is not to be spoken out loud again\u201d.<\/p>\n St Cuthbert’s College principal Charlotte Avery began working at the school in 2024 after moving to New Zealand from England.<\/p>\n