The Government has announced it will invest in new classrooms at Wakatipu High School to address the rapidly growing demand for secondary education in Queenstown.
Wakatipu High School is currently the only public secondary school in Queenstown. The investment will see the New Zealand School Property Agency deliver 12 new classrooms for the school. Construction on the expansion will begin in the first half of 2027, with the classrooms due to open in mid-2028.
“Parents expect their local school to have enough space for their children to learn, but for too long communities in high-growth areas have been left waiting for infrastructure to catch up with population growth,” said Education Minister, Erica Stanford.
“Queenstown has experienced strong and sustained growth over the last decade, placing increasing pressure on local schooling capacity, and we needed to take action.”
The expansion will deliver a new two-storey building with four specialist spaces for food technology and arts alongside four general teaching spaces, and a separate building with four hard technology and automotive engineering classrooms.
Rather than relying on temporary capacity measures, the Government is investing in permanent facilities that provide additional teaching space where it is needed most, said Minister Stanford.
“This is about making sure teachers have the classrooms they need and students have access to high-quality learning spaces.”
“When we get the basics right, schools can focus on teaching and families can have confidence their local school will continue to meet the needs of a growing community,” she said.
Infrastructure Minister, Chris Bishop says funding has also been set aside to purchase a site for a future new high school in Queenstown.
“School communities can be confident that we are planning for growth and investing in areas where demand is increasing,” he said.
“As work gets underway on these new facilities and planning continues to address future student growth in Queenstown, we remain focused on delivering practical results that support students, schools and local communities.
“In addition, funding has been secured to begin work on a pilot converting a limited number of open plan classrooms into enclosed learning spaces at Wakatipu High School, and five other Public Private Partnership (PPP) schools.”
The six schools that will benefit from classroom modifications under the PPP pilot include:
- Avonside Girls’ High School, Christchurch
- Haeata Community Campus, Christchurch
- Hobsonville Point Secondary School, Auckland
- Rolleston College, Rolleston
- Shirley Boys’ High School, Christchurch
- Wakatipu High School, Queenstown.
