Western Heights gets upgrade to tired buildings

English, science and special learning blocks to be replaced

They’re old buildings,

they’re prefab buildings, they’ve served us well, but

they’re tired. Western Heights High School deputy principal Wiremu Shuker

Western Heights High School is set to get a makeover as buildings that see about 1250 students a day going through them are to be rebuilt.

The school has confirmed refurbishments and replacements across the English and science blocks, as well as the Te Maru unit, which is used for special learning support needs.

The buildings that are part of the upgrade equate to about a third of the buildings on site.

“They’re old buildings, they’re prefab buildings, they’ve served us well, but they’re tired,” deputy principal Wiremu Shuker told the Rotorua Daily Post.

The plans have been about 10 years in the making but were only made possible late last year when the decile 4 school secured capital works funding from the Government.

But a major consultation programme with the school community and iwi will take place before the contracts, designs and “dollar figures” are finalised.

“We’re still

in

the

early,

early stages,” Shuker said, but it’s hoped the projects will gradually be completed in the next two to four years.

He said the value of the funding could not be revealed but it was “hugely significant”.

“There’s no way in the world that we could have done this off our own back, no way, it’s just too extensive a project . . .

“It’s a significant amount of money, our community couldn’t afford it.”

Principal James Bracefield said one of the biggest problems with the old buildings was maintenance.

He estimated the entire school, about 1250 students, would go through the English and science blocks each day and about 27 students were based at the Te Maru unit.

For that reason, the upgrades will be carried out with “a staggered approach so they will have minimal disruption”.

“We’re going to have better facilities for our learners that are designed to last, for the new way of teaching and learning for the next 30 years.

“This is a really positive thing for the school and community,” he said.

The buildings will include a “cultural narrative” developed with Te Arawa and Bracefield said this would be one of the most “exciting” aspects.

He became principal at the start of this year after returning to his hometown, Rotorua, from Murupara Area School.

A “whole school build” was carried out at Murupara while Bracefield was there, familiarising him with the building process.

Kim Shannon, head of Ministry of Education’s infrastructure service, said the Western Heights High School funding came from the ministry’s capital budgets.

These are “used to deliver construction projects across New Zealand to improve the quality and performance of the school property portfolio”.

“The ministry identifies and prioritises investment based on the needs of schools.

“This funding is in addition to the capital funding all schools receive annually for maintenance and improvement works that they manage themselves.”