Fast growth sparks primary school expansion

By Education Gazette editors

Issue: Volume 96, Number 6

Posted: 10 April 2017

Reference #: 1H9d7H

Warkworth Primary School is upgrading old buildings and expanding to accommodate a growing suburb.

Last year the Warkworth Primary School junior block had a makeover and this year it’s the senior school’s turn.

In a $13 million-plus investment, the senior school in the fast-growing town north of Auckland will be redeveloped, with 10 of the existing classrooms demolished and replaced.

Warkworth Primary School operates two campuses, with the junior school catering for years 1–3 and the senior site for years 4–6.

The junior campus has already been redeveloped, and that upgrade was completed last year at a cost of $7.6 million. It provided a 16-teaching-space classroom block, hall and administration building replacing existing buildings that were aged.

Some of the buildings on the senior school site are between 30 and 70 years old and in need of replacement. The redevelopment will deliver a new two-storey building both to replace those buildings and to cater for growth in student numbers. Students at the senior school can look forward to getting 14 new classrooms as well as an administration, library and resource space.

Once the project is completed, Warkworth Primary School will be able to take up to 690 students. The current student roll is 594.

Design work for the concept is underway with construction expected to start late this year.

Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye visited the school to announce the project on 9 March.

The Warkworth area is located 60 kilometres north of Auckland and its population is on a growth path, along with the rest of the Auckland region. It’s expected the area will have a population of 20,000 by 2040.