‘Not achieved’: Schools still in the rebuild trenches 15 years since the quakes

Saturday, 21 February 2026

Burnside High School principal Scott Haines calls them the “apology tours”.

The ones he gives students, staff and visitors when they come to the Christchurch mega-school for the first time.

“I say to them, ‘I am really sorry that you are in these spaces’, they are frankly not what we aspire to put students or staff in. I am trying to do better for you. I will not rest until we get there, but my goodness, we've got a long way to go.”

The spaces he’s talking about include four early 1970s-era concrete teaching blocks that are dark, damp and either too hot or cold due to an antiquated heating system, negligible insulation or ventilation and should have been demolished many years ago.

Burnside High is one of 10 schools whose post-quake rebuild remains unfinished, more than 12 years after the school rebuild programme began in 2013.

Others include Christchurch Girls’ High School, which had its rebuild resume this year after construction halted in 2019; Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Whānau Tahi in Spreydon which is still in the planning/design phase; Chisnallwood and Kirkwood intermediates; Ilam School; Riccarton High School and Hagley College.

While $1.6 billion has been spent rebuilding and refurbishing 105 schools, at Burnside, the principal has had enough of waiting. “I’m sick of doing the apology tour every time I run an assembly or show parents or visitors around.”

• Read more: A Reshaped City - Christchurch 15 years on

‘Dogs of spaces’

Burnside High is the largest high school in the South Island, with more than 2700 students.

Built in 1960 in Christchurch’s north-west, it suffered relatively little earthquake damage.

So like other lightly damaged schools, it was “last on the rebuild programme” — something Haines said was “known and understood” with assurances they would not be disadvantaged.

“And yet here we find ourselves, 15 years along, and we’ve only got one of the components of our masterplan complete - a new 24-teaching space block in science and technology.”

Construction is under way to replace two teaching blocks that had 24 teaching spaces - but the new buildings will provide only 10 new classrooms.

The school board has paid for four more because it is so concerned about space, but that still leaves the school 10 classrooms short.

Ministry school property chief executive Jerome Sheppard said the “build roll” for Burnside High was determined by the needs of the Christchurch schools network.

The ministry says a final stage — refurbishing and strengthening the administration block and demolishing four “surplus” buildings — is due to be finished January 2028.

Haines bristles at the term “surplus”.

Despite being “just dogs of spaces” he cannot afford to lose them as the roll continues to skyrocket.

“We’ve got kids occupying those spaces that, by the ministry’s own definition, were deemed at end of life and due for demolition pre-earthquake.”

Sheppard said the buildings were being used temporarily while construction is under way.

“Once the school moves into the new buildings, the older buildings will be demolished to meet the agreed build roll.”

A 2024 masterplan was designed for 2700 students, but enrolments have already passed that, while the ministry’s “build roll” of 2300 excludes out-of-zone and international students.

With 2250 in-zone students enrolled, Burnside’s “build roll” of 2300 will be easily met by the end of the year, Haines said.

Many students declined out-of-zone placements simply moved into the zone, making it difficult to manage numbers.

Haines said he would rate communication from the ministry as “a solid not achieved”.

An email from October requesting an update on plans for the administrative block has yet to be answered.

“It doesn’t matter how much noise you make, you don't get anything back.”

He believes Burnside’s strong academic results have worked against it, creating a perception that it is coping.

“It just makes me angry, frankly, our kids and our staff do not deserve to be in these spaces.”

Rebuild fund spent on repairs

Unlike most others in the group, Chisnallwood Intermediate school has had no new construction.

Built in 1967, the site on Breezes Rd - a stone’s throw from the red zone - experienced significant liquefaction and damage to buildings in Canterbury’s quakes.

It was survivable, but left a major leaky building problem.

Classroom blocks built in the late 60s and 70s have had minor upgrades but are noisy and have poor heating.

The gym floor is not level, the building leaks, and mould has forced the closure of toilets.

Principal Todd Blake and board presiding member Andrew Delaney said the school’s rebuild funding pool of about $10 million had been drawn on for repairs and was now down to about $7.5m.

With no adjustment for inflation, the remaining funds would support only limited upgrades.

Delaney said redevelopment would likely focus on a technology hub and toilet facilities, allowing the school to host visiting students and increase revenue.

The pair were hopeful a meeting with an architect on Friday would bring more certainty and hope.

The ministry has given an estimated completion date of late 2027 for a redevelopment.

“Yeah, we'll wait and see … it'll depend on what they discover once they start,” Delaney says.

Chisnallwood narrowly avoided closure after the earthquakes. A proposed merger was delayed until a review in 2020, postponed by Covid-19 and completed in 2022, followed by a ministry decision to cap the roll and proceed with redevelopment.

Delaney said the school’s priority was simply progress.

“Are we happy at 400 and a technology block? Yes, we’re reasonably happy because we just want to start moving forward as a community.”

Slow, frustrating, but good result

For some schools nearing the end of their rebuilds, completed classrooms and facilities have eased frustration.

Kirkwood Intermediate School principal Phil Tappenden praised local ministry staff but said funding had become harder to secure.

“We all understand it’s public money, it’s coming from taxes…so we’ve never expected a Rolls-Royce model.

“For most of our buildings we’ve got quality, it’s good. We’re very happy with what’s being done. It’s just that there’s always a fight for everything.”

He was concerned about the proposed final stage of work on three technology blocks, one of which he said “needed to fall down” it was so old.

The plan includes double glazing, but retaining old wooden frames, he understood.

“If they have enough money left in their budget, they’ve said ‘we might be able to get half of the windows done’ … even though you’d say that’s part of the project, I would have thought.”

Sheppard said a proposed project was to relocate two existing technology blocks from another site to Kirkwood.

Christchurch schools rebuild programme - schools yet to be completed:

Yet to join programme:

• Ko Taku Reo (formerly van Asch Deaf Education Centre)

In design and planning:

• Christchurch Girls’ High School

• Chisnallwood Intermediate School

• Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Whānau Tahi

In construction:

• Burnside High School

• Ferndale Te Ahu

• Ilam School

• Kirkwood Intermediate School

• Riccarton High School

• Te Puna Wai o Waipapa - Hagley College

Read next week: How Christchurch Girls’ High School’s roll dispute stalled its rebuild for years