Education Minister, Erica Stanford has announced staff and students at 10 schools with significant roll growth pressure will benefit from 34 additional classrooms and a new gym.
The Minister said the $32.8 million investment has been made possible through savings in the school property portfolio.
Since July 2024, more efficient planning, prioritisation and delivery has generated over $330 million in savings to be reinvested into school property, Ms Stanford said.
“Every dollar we save through more efficient delivery is put into the classrooms and facilities schools need,” she said.
“We are focused on getting better value from the school property portfolio so we can invest more where the pressure is greatest.”
Schools to receive additional classrooms or facilities:
- Avondale Primary School (Auckland) – 4 classrooms
- Berkley Normal Middle School (Waikato) – 4 classrooms
- Botany Downs Secondary College (Auckland) – 8 classrooms
- Chapel Downs Junior College (Auckland) – new gym
- Gilberthorpe School (Canterbury) – 2 classrooms
- Massey High School (Auckland) – 6 classrooms
- Massey High School (Auckland) | Satellites for Arohanui Special School – 4 classrooms
- Takanini School (Auckland) – 2 classrooms
- Te Waka Unua School (Canterbury) – 2 classrooms
- Waitara High School (Taranaki) – 2 classrooms
The additional classrooms are spread across Auckland, Waikato, Taranaki and Canterbury and include four new satellite learning support classrooms for Arohanui Special School, based at Massey High School.
The new Chapel Downs Junior College will also receive its gym earlier than previously planned, with construction expected to begin around April 2027 and completion targeted for mid-2028.
Projects will be delivered through standard designs or offsite manufacturing to support more efficient delivery, with work starting over the next 12 months on all projects receiving reprioritised funding.
“We are delivering more bang for buck by improving the way school property is planned and built. This means our funding is going further, and even more classrooms can be delivered,” Ms Stanford says.
