Cashmere High School requests urgent review to get more classrooms

Saturday, 20 May 2023

Cashmere High School was at capacity five years ago, and without an increase the chance of more permanent classrooms looks unlikely.

A Christchurch school is calling for an “urgent review” of its roll after being told not to expect more classrooms.

Cashmere High School exceeded its build roll (capacity) of 2000 students five years ago, but despite having its zone size reduced twice and exclusively accepting pupils from within that zone, the Ministry of Education won’t increase the roll.

The higher a build roll, the more classrooms a school can have. Cashmere High School now has about 220 more pupils than the school is equipped for, and is using temporary classrooms to accommodate them.

Principal Joe Eccleton says the school isn't asking for more than what it’s entitled to.

“We’re not advocating for anything over and above what we’re entitled to,” principal Joe Eccleton said.

Eccleton and school board chairperson James O’Connell had written and met with the ministry to advocate for a higher roll, to no success. They requested an urgent review in February but on Friday had no update on when that might be.

Eccleton said the ministry projected Cashmere High School’s roll would decrease over the next five years, based on the current number of year 1 to 8 pupils currently residing in zone.

A group of Christchurch secondary school teachers strike on both sides of the road near Eastgate Mall in Linwood.

“The data doesn’t reflect the number of students moving into the zone,” he said.

“We had around 50 families move into the zone at the end of last year. There is a lot of demand for places at the school.”

He said the ministry’s prediction did not consider housing intensification and subdivisions being developed within the zone either.

While the school wasn’t currently overcrowded, it could be if it didn’t plan for the future, he said.

The ministry’s Kayne Good said a school’s capacity and growth was looked at as a network, not in isolation.

Cashmere High could become overcrowded if capacity issues aren’t address now, Eccleston says.

He confirmed they predicted future cohorts of year 9 pupils using primary school data, and said Cashmere High School’s 2023 year 9 cohort was larger than average.

Construction was due to begin later in the year on a new classroom block, but Eccleston said that block of 14 classrooms was meant to accommodate the school’s growth from 1800 to 2000 pupils, and may not be completed until 2025.

In the meantime, it was using temporary classrooms.

The growing Hillmorton High School is expected to have 2000 students by 2030, and is currently having to use temporary classrooms.

Meanwhile, down the road at Hillmorton High School, ground was broken this week on the site of its new sports centre.

It would feature a gymnasium the size of two basketball courts, two classrooms and an exercise room that could be used as a teaching space.

Principal Ann Brokenshire said it was part of an “exciting” plan working towards a predicted roll of 2000 by the end of the decade.

Since 2011, the school’s roll had nearly doubled to about 1200. Like Cashmere High School, it used temporary classrooms.

Brokenshire said construction would begin about mid-2024 on a science block with eight labs and four classrooms, and it was expected to build the roll to above 1300 pupils.

Beyond that there would be an arts block with another eight classrooms.

She said planning for a growing roll was critical because even if there was a set maximum, schools couldn’t turn away students who live within the zone, and it could lead to overcrowding.