New schools announced for Hamilton

Education Minister Hekia Parata today announced progress towards establishing two new schools in Hamilton.

Ms Parata today released details on the establishment of a new junior high school in Hamilton expected to open in 2016.

“The new Year 7-10 junior high school will have energy efficient buildings, a modern design with flexible learning areas and access to ultra-fast broadband,” says Ms Parata.

“The new school will be the first of a two-stage building project, which will expand to include a Year 11-13 senior high school to open in 2017.”

In addition, the first sod of land has been turned at Hamilton’s Endeavour Avenue Primary this morning, marking the start of construction of the $16.7m school. The school in Flagstaff will be built in two stages. Stage one will accommodate 400 students and the next stage will create room for another 200 children.

The primary school, for children from years one to six, is expected to open for term one 2015 and will help cater for continued population growth in north-east Hamilton.

“This school will have high-quality, modern learning environments for 600 students to make sure they’re getting the best start to their education,” Ms Parata says.

Ms Parata says the new junior high school in Hamilton East will help cater to the approximately two thousand Year 7-13 school-age students in the North-East Hamilton schooling network. This number is set to increase significantly over the next decade.

“After extensive consultation, the local community asked that the new schooling model for Hamilton East should include plans for a Year 11-13 senior high school and the Ministry of Education is in the early planning stages of this expansion.

“Both the junior and senior high schools will be governed by a single Establishment Board of Trustees that will have responsibility for appointing a foundation principal, determining school policy, and governance practices. The board will also play an important part in establishing the schools’ identity,” says Ms Parata.

“I congratulate the Hamilton community for their commitment to raising achievement for their children and look forward to the contribution these schools will make to the schooling network.”

 “This Government is focused on providing young New Zealanders with world-class learning environments that enable the latest teaching and learning methods and allow greater collaboration and interaction between students and teachers.”

School property, which has a book value of around $10.5 billion, is the Government’s second largest property portfolio behind housing. About $500 million is spent annually as capital reinvestment directly within schools.