Marlborough colleges to co-locate

  • Hekia Parata
Education

Marlborough Boys’ and Girls’ Colleges are to be co-located on a new site in   a development costing up to $63 million that will equip them with state-of-the-art buildings and technology, Education Minister Hekia Parata announced today.

“Co-locating the two schools on one site will enable them to share specialist facilities and strengthen the opportunities for collaboration between two key members of Blenheim’s newly-formed Community of Learning,” says Ms Parata.

“This investment recognises the key roles these two schools are playing in a Community of Learning that is spearheading systematic collaboration between schools to raise student achievement.

“I’m delighted the colleges and their communities have seized the opportunity to put kids at the centre of the learning pathway and we are backing them to succeed.”

The next step in the process will be for the Ministry of Education to secure a suitable site for the two colleges. The public will be kept informed as work on the project continues.

“I want to thank the schools and their communities for their feedback and input into the consultation process. It has shown that parents and the wider community greatly value education and want facilities that will enhance kids’ learning well into the future,” says Ms Parata.

“I’d also like to pay tribute to my colleague and Member of Parliament for Kaikōura Stuart Smith for his advocacy on behalf of the Marlborough community.”

Buildings in the new school will be designed to support a range of different teaching and learning approaches.

The co-located schools are due to begin operating on their new site in 2021.

Notes:

Marlborough Boys’ and Girls’ Colleges are the only secondary schools in Blenheim.  

Communities of Learning

Communities of Learning are groups of schools and kura that have agreed to work systematically together to raise student achievement.

Communities set shared goals based on information about their students’ educational needs.  

There are now 96 Communities of Learning across the country, comprising almost 800 schools and more than 250,000 students.

Communities of Learning are part of the Government’s $359m Investing in Educational Success programme and receive additional funding to make it easier for teachers and principals to share expertise and resources.