$9 million in new classrooms for two Auckland schools

Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye announced today $9 million funding for new classrooms at Auckland schools Mt Albert Grammar and St Thomas’s School in Kohimarama.

“The Government will provide funding for 21 new classrooms at Mt Albert Grammar as part of a $6 million rebuilding and expansion project,” Ms Kaye says. “And will contribute funding to a new two-storey classroom block at St Thomas’s School, as part of a $3 million building replacement and expansion project.

”The Auckland region is growing rapidly and the Ministry of Education anticipates that up to 600 new classrooms will be needed across the region over the next four years. The new buildings for Mt Albert Grammar and St Thomas’s School are part of a broader classroom building programme provided for in Budget 2013, which will address the capacity needs for the region.

“Nineteen of the Mt Albert Grammar classrooms will accommodate roll growth and two will replace older buildings. The new buildings include 11 standard classrooms and 10 specialist classrooms, all of which will meet modern learning environment standards.

“Until the classrooms are completed, temporary accommodation is being used to support the school’s roll.

“The new block at St Thomas’s will include 12 classrooms, as well as breakout spaces and a resource area.

“St Thomas’s roll has been growing significantly. This project will accommodate that growth with buildings that meet modern learning environment standards and will replace old classrooms that are either in the way of the new building or are beyond modernisation.

“The Government has good plans in place to match expanding school rolls in areas where population grow is rapid, such as Auckland, and these new classrooms are part of that plan,” Ms Kaye says