New school for Western East Cape

A new Year 1-13 school will be opened in the Western East Cape next year to provide better educational opportunities for the young people of Te Whānau-a-Apanui says Education Minister Hekia Parata.

Te Kura o Ōmaio, Te Whānau-a-Apanui Area School and Raukokore School will close on 27 January 2016, and Year 1-13 schooling in the area will be provided by the new school, initially to be known as Te Kaha Community School. It will open at the beginning of 2016 and operate on the current Te Whānau-ā-Apanui Area School site.

Ms Parata says the Ministry of Education has engaged with the Western East Cape community over the future of its schooling since 2012 and she considered about 40 submissions from the latest round of consultation. 

“I have carefully considered all the submissions. I know change can be hard, but this reorganisation will provide better educational outcomes for students.

“The boards of Te Whānau-a-Apanui Area School and Te Kura o Ōmaio as well as other members of the community support the new school. I know the Raukokore community wanted to retain its school, but it would not have been able to provide the same sustainable, quality education.

“There will be people who are sad at the change, but it’s also an exciting time to be part of the development of a new school.

“Declining population has been a key factor in fewer educational opportunities for the children and young people in the area. The change will provide stronger governance, refreshed leadership and teaching, better supported teaching staff, and enhanced opportunities for student learning.

“There will also be exciting opportunities to embrace the new Community of Schools framework as a basis of working together with the other three schools that make up the education network in Te Whānau-a-Apanui. This will provide the collaborative network within which the Apanui curriculum, a key part of submissions, might be developed and taught.”

Ms Parata says the Ministry of Education will work with the boards of the three schools to implement this change. Nominations for the Establishment Board of Trustees will be invited and the board appointed shortly. One of the board’s first tasks will be to choose the new name for the school.

Ms Parata thanked everyone for their participation in the three-year process, and for their full-hearted commitment to their children getting a better education and better futures and for doing so with a strong sense of their Apanui identity.