Rolleston welcomes plans for a new primary school

Tuesday, 16 July 2024

Neemo Childcare Centre manager Shannen Hawkins with her son Jacob, 3, have watched the land behind them transform as cows make way for diggers.

Parents and principals of one of Aotearoa’s fastest growing towns have welcomed plans for a new primary school - but warned more infrastructure will be needed.

Rolleston South Primary school will open in 2026 with an initial roll of 250 year 1 to 8 pupils, with design capacity for 700 and the potential to expand to 1000.

Education Minister Erica Stanford said three new schools would be delivered within Budget 2024’s $400 million investment into school property growth and construction.

The announcement comes after months of back and forth over the future of the town’s high school Rolleston College, which will now have a downsized and delayed second campus.

Rolleston South Primary School will open in 2026 in the under-construction 1200 home Arbor Green subdivision.

Principal Rachel Skelton recently locked in the first stage of the second campus build, which she previously said was “enough”, but the scope of stages two and three remain unclear.

The new primary school will be built on the corner of Arbor Green Blvd and Harrison Dr, catering to the under-construction 1200 home Arbor Green subdivision.

Shannen Hawkins, manager at Nemo Childcare Centre, was excited to see parents get another option for their children.

“The numbers and enrolments at local primary schools are high, they are very busy schools … to maybe relieve a little bit of pressure on them, I think, is really necessary.”

Nemo Childcare Centre is the closest early learning centre to Arbor Green, but Hawkins noted that could easily change as evidenced by the rapid growth she had witnessed.

“From cows across the street two years ago to diggers and bare sites. In another year’s time that’ll be full of houses and a new school.”

The new school will be located roughly half-way between Lemonwood Grove and West Rolleston Primary School, splitting their zones.

Lemonwood Grove principal Blair Dravitski said the new school was urgently needed.

His school would be starting Term 3 with about 990 students and had capacity for another 70.

More primary schools would likely be required in the future, such as between Rolleston and Springston, or Rolleston and Lincoln, as the area continued to grow, he said.

West Rolleston Primary School principal Sylvia Fidow, whose zone will be split by the announced new school, says it is “much needed”.

West Rolleston principal Sylvia Fidow was “very grateful” to hear the new school would go ahead as “there’s just so many people moving out here”.

A new entrant class would bring her student population to about 800 next term, filling the school.

“Rolleston’s rapid and dynamic growth is putting pressure on the South Canterbury school system,” Education Minister Erica Stanford says. (File photo)

“It was much needed, definitely. As is progress on the secondary [Rolleston College] campus. We would love to see that happen really quickly as well.”

She hoped the ministry would keep a close eye on Rolleston’s growing population to plan ahead for further new schools.

One Rolleston father, whose son attended West Rolleston Primary School, said the town was “growing too fast” and would need both another primary and secondary school very soon.

Stanford said the Government was “committed” to giving teachers the right environment to work in, “so our children have every opportunity to succeed”.

“Rolleston’s rapid and dynamic growth is putting pressure on the South Canterbury school system. We are ensuring there are more safe, warm and dry classrooms for the community, so students receive a world-leading education.”

The ministry would call for nominations for an establishment board to develop the school’s vision and values and how would it operate, in line with the community.