Exams begin after a ‘most extraordinary’ year
MAJOR changes are afoot at Bayfield High School as consents for a multimilliondollar renewal and refurbishment project await signoff this week.
Principal Mark Jones said $5.86 million was to be spent over the next 15 months to get rid of some of the school’s old, decrepit buildings, repair and refurbish others, and build some new facilities.
He said the project included demolishing the old gymnasium; expanding the present gymnasium by adding new offices, classrooms and changing rooms; demolishing the old learning support unit and replacing it with a purposebuilt facility; reroofing the school library and two classroom blocks; and refurbishing many of the school’s classrooms, including the food technology classroom.
It was hoped consents would be granted by the Dunedin City Council by the end of this week, and demolition/construction could begin as early as next week, he said.
‘‘We are hoping this tranche of projects will be finished by the end of 2021.
‘‘But there are time pressures on us.’’
It was hoped the food technology classroom refurbishment would be done during the school holidays and be operational again by the start of next year.
He said the classroom had been closed for the past term and teaching programmes had been planned around that, so work could begin before the school year was over.
Mr Jones said the project was part of a larger $7.5 million project, which aimed to fully upgrade the school over the next three and ahalf years.
It was pleasing for the school to have the funding to keep itself at the forefront of education delivery, he said.
‘‘It’s a very nice position to be in.’’