North Canterbury school's long-awaited $10m upgrade set for end of year

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from Northern Outlook

From Adam Burns Local Democracy Reporter
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Multimillion-dollar upgrades at a North Canterbury school may finally be set in motion after the prospect of a burgeoning school roll forced a rethink.

The $10 million redevelopment of Oxford Area School was confirmed four years ago by Education Minister Chris Hipkins and includes the replacement of 11 prefabricated classrooms, a new library and administration block and upgrades to other facilities.

It is the only school in the small Waimakariri town of Oxford. Several other schools in the North Canterbury region also received Government-backed improvements over the past few years.

Principal Mike Hart said construction was earmarked for the end of 2022, although this was a “best-case scenario”.

The previous few years had been marked by rebuild scopes, development of an education brief, and the completion of a long-term master plan last year.

It was previously hoped the build would begin early this year, but now the end of 2022 was considered more realistic.

Hart said catering to the potential growth of pupils during the planning phase had possibly slowed the project.

“A positive projection of the school roll made us think about the size and perhaps having something a bit bigger than we originally thought,” he said.

The predicted school roll for 2022 is 545, but the master plan accommodates for 800.

Detailed design is now the focus for school leaders as headway is sought on the project.

“About three quarters of the year will be spent on [detailed design],” Hart said.

He was hopeful of the build getting under way before the end of the year.

“Whether it is some demolition taking place because we have to remove some buildings to create the space,” Hart said.

“Hopefully some construction will take place by the end of this year. There's lots of factors that determine that.”

Oxford Area School, which caters for year 1 to 13 pupils, opened in 1978, replacing the 100-year Oxford District High School.

Most of the school's existing infrastructure dated back to the Bay Rd site's previous incarnation.

The school's principal agreed that some buildings were now out-of-date.

“They're really old and cost our school a lot of money to update them and keep them as fresh as we can,” Hart said.