The year of new schools opening in Christchurch
Two new Christchurch schools have welcomed their first pupils, marking the start of several major school rebuilds coming to fruition in 2019.
Opening celebrations at Halswell’s Knights Stream School, Lincoln’s Ararira Springs Primary School and Wigram Primary School this week herald two further reopenings in April – the return of Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery to central Christchurch and Shirley Boys’ and Avonside Girls’ high schools’ relocation to the former QEII Park. Further north, a new school will open in west Rangiora by 2020.
The Ministry of Education is also fast-tracking the redevelopment of 14 schools in its $1.13 billion Christchurch Schools Rebuild programme to bring the 10-year project’s end date forward to 2021.
Knights Stream School and Ararira Springs Primary School, which were fast-tracked from original opening dates of 2022, welcomed families yesterday ahead of their official first day today.
Opening with 193 pupils between them, they have been built for 450 and 400 children respectively. Over the next five to 10 years, each will be expanded to accommodate up to 750 students, meeting projected population growth of about 130 per cent in southwest Christchurch over the next 20 years.
Knights Stream School board chair Warren Read marvelled at the building of the schools in less than a year, while Ararira Primary’s principal Claire Howison said Monday was the culmination of a lot of work ‘‘behind the scenes’’.
‘‘A school is only buildings until the children arrive so it’s really lovely to be able to hear their laughter and voices.’’
Ararira Springs, sited in the Te Wha¯riki subdivision, is expected to absorb some of the overflow from Lincoln Primary School, which has operated from two sites since 2016.
About 100 students will be added to its roll each year. Although its enrolment zone covers south Lincoln, and Lincoln Primary’s encompasses the northern part of the suburb, Lincoln Primary is allowing siblings of existing students to enrol there.
‘‘They [Lincoln Primary] are eager for us to open and ease some of that pressure,’’ Howison said. Knights Stream is expected to grow at a similar rate, taking on children who would otherwise attend oversubscribed Halswell and Oaklands primary schools.
The school was an easy choice for Ravinesh Singh and son Ronav, 11, who live about 300 metres away. ‘‘It’s very modern,’’ Singh said of the $11 million development.
Rebecca McLeod enrolled daughter Amelia Jacka, 7, on Friday. ‘‘We walked through the school on one of the open days and Amelia and [her brother] Peter, who’s five, said ‘wow, we want to go here’.’’
Principal Mike Molloy said some families will ‘‘wait and see’’ what the school is like before shifting from nearby schools.
The former principal of Rolleston’s Broadfield School, Molloy was enamoured by Knights Stream’s multicultural community, which features roughly a 50-50 split of Pa¯ keha¯ and other ethnicities.
‘‘Indian and Chinese would be our biggest [cohort]; we have got a few Afghan families, some Filipino and Korean – even a family from the Maldives,’’ he said.
‘‘We have huge diversity. This is the new Christchurch I think, and it’s a good representation of what Christchurch will become.’’
The Christchurch City Council has projected the city’s population will reach at least 424,000 by 2028 – 42,000 more people than at June 2017. Most of the growth is expected in northern and southwest Christchurch, as well as the Waimakariri and Selwyn districts.