Long-awaited development finally gets underway at school
Two new leaves have been turned at a rural Taranaki school, with a new principal arriving and their eight-year wait to have leaky buildings replaced coming to an end.
Yesterday morning members of Lepperton Primary School and the community attended the sodturning ceremony and blessing to mark the beginning of the longawaited redevelopment.
‘‘It was a relief that we’ve finally managed to get to this point in time,’’ said Lepperton School Board of Trustees chairman Ian McCaul.
‘‘They already have the fences up on site...nearer the end of next year we should be finished.’’
The ceremony involved the school, the community and local hapu¯ , he said.
‘‘We’re very much looking forward to tackling this project and getting it finished and getting our kids settled into a new school.’’
The school will stay in the current buildings until the completion of the new areas, when they will move in and the old buildings will be demolished. They are hoping to move in for term four in 2018.
The school was given $3.7 million government funding towards replacing leaky buildings in 2015 after an almost six-year wait, which was later topped up to $6.5 million for a complete rebuild.
The school has also been able to confirm the appointment of a new principal to replace their outgoing leader of 12 years, Charles Gibson.
Andrew Retallick from Kakaramea School in Patea will take the reins in the new year.
‘‘He has been a principal for the past seven years and we were looking for someone with proven leadership skills and someone who we thought could handle the transition into a brand new school,’’ McCaul said.
Andrew Retallick said he was attracted to the opportunity to be part of a ‘‘cutting edge’’ school and the newest in Taranaki.
‘‘The biggest challenge is just making sure that the kids are managing day to day, making sure that teaching and learning’s still occurring as it would normally.’’
But he will miss his place at Kakaramea. ‘‘As a principal I’ve learned a lot from being principal here and growing here.’’
And he is related to All Black Brodie - they are first cousins. Their mothers are sisters who married two Retallick brothers. He has played to Heartland Championship level, and brother Culum also plays for Bay of Plenty and the Rebels in Super rugby.
‘‘Brodie and Culum got the rugby genes I think,’’ he said.