Transformation in sight for Salisbury School

Thursday, 8 May 2025

Over the Easter holidays, Salisbury School principal Ellie Salčin-Watts had to deal with water leaks and electricity failures at the residential school for girls with high and complex needs.

She was excited that was soon to become a thing of the past.

Thirteen years after facing closure, and six years since a rebuild of the school was announced, the country’s only single-sex specialist residential school is about to get a makeover.

“You can’t underestimate the milestone we’re reaching. It’s been a huge journey for this school,” Salčin-Watts said.

“To be in a position where we’re at the tail end of putting together these designs now, and it becoming a reality, is so exciting.”

The school’s sleeping quarters and day school were due to swap places under the project, which became a $10m refurbishment last year.

The “institutional” style of the existing residential blocks with bedrooms off long corridors was due to be “obliterated”, Salčin-Watts said.

In its place would be small group homes. The three “villa-like buildings” would accommodate eight students each, with four bedrooms either side of a communal space with a kitchen and a lounge.

At one end, the pods would have a central kitchen and laundry area and they would be attached by a walkway, so staff could navigate in and out during the night and move food backwards and forwards.

“It’s going to be such a game-changer on every possible level,” Salčin-Watts said, adding that accessibility would be improved with “proper ramps” and “wider corridors”.

Switching round the residential and classrooms sites was “the only real option”, with students living on-site during the development, she said.

The girls would stay in their residential buildings while the new ones were being built, and the day school would move temporarily to a block at the far end of the campus that currently housed the dining room and kitchen.

Once the residential units were built, the girls would move into them, and the day school would be set up on the old residential site.

It was still being decided which parts of the school could be used or refurbished for the day school, pending final costings.

The school’s whare, gymnasium and admin block would remain where they were.

Half of the gymnasium would refurbished as a multi-purpose space to accommodate the likes of therapy and sensory rooms.

As well as modernised, the school was also being downsized. It was originally built for about 80 students, and now the role was capped at 20.

But the site plan allowed space to expand if needed, Salčin-Watts said.

The project was due to start at the end of the year and last 12 to 18 months.

“When this is completed, I think this will be a wonderful asset for the top of the south,” she said.

“The focus that is on learning support currently is significant, and ensuring there are good, viable options for young people and their whānau remains current.”

Next to Salisbury School, the top of the South Island’s only day school for children with high and complex needs was being relocated.

Maitai School said it was still progressing the design for its new school on the site, next to Salisbury Rd, with building expected to be completed by mid-2026.

The school would sit next to the new hub for RTLB (Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour), Ko Taku Reo Deaf Education New Zealand and the Blind Low Vision Network New Zealand (Blennz).

That cluster, which officially opened a year ago, is believed to be only the second cluster of its type in the country.