Pregnant PM joining ‘mini boom’ in Pt Chev

The Prime Minister’s baby can look forward to going to school in a “tight knit” community according to the principal of what could be the child’s primary school, while Clarke Gayford has already been invited to join a group of parents who take their babies to visit a retirement village.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and partner Gayford are joining what locals describe as a mini baby boom in Pt Chevalier.

Ardern lives in the largely flat Auckland suburb with Gayford along with many young families.

The area’s growth in recent years has pushed up the waiting list for the local kindergarten to 150 and swollen the local school’s roll by about 100 since 2010.

“Last time I was at the Plunket clinic, about a year ago, the nurse was telling us the average number of kids is increasing,” said Stuart King, who chairs the Pt Chevalier Kindergarten’s whanau group.

“Instead of having two kids, people are now looking to have at least three and some are looking to have four.”

Ardern announced her news on Instagram stating: “I think it’s fair to say that this will be a wee one that a village will raise.” Point Chevalier Primary School’s roll has grown by 100 since 2010.

Pt Chevalier School principal Stephen Lethbridge said the area was “a tight-knit community that is very fixed on doing the best they can for their kids in the area”.

“The Prime Minister’s baby can look forward to having all of the best things that the New Zealand education system has to offer,” he said.

The school has grown from 605 students in 2010 to 700 today, and has taken over part of the site where the kindergarten formerly operated.

Unusually in multicultural Auckland, the children at the decile 10 Pt Chevalier School are 75 per cent European, with 10 per cent Asian, 8 per cent Pasifika and 6 per cent Maori.

Lethbridge said the school employed a Maori language teacher three days a week and had 120 children in its kapa haka group.

“We have a strong focus to make sure all of our kids have experienced te reo Maori and tikanga Maori,” he said.

Elderly residents from nearby Selwyn Village help children at the school with extra reading, and a “Baby Buddies” group of parents takes their babies into Selwyn Village every Friday for the residents to hold and enjoy.

Home-based educator Kim Saunders posted on the group’s Facebook page after Ardern and Gayford’s announcement: “Pretty fab huh, maybe Clarke can come to Baby Buddies.”