Education Facilities For Turangi Discussed By Taupo's M. P., Mrs Stevenson

Taupo Times, Volume XIV, Issue 37, 13 May 1965, Page 10

Education Facilities For Turangi Discussed By Taupo's M. P., Mrs Stevenson

The question of school buildings for Turangi has been taken up by the Member of Parliament for Taupo, Mrs Rona Stevenson, who says that primary pupils will move into the first new school — from the present District High School — on July 1.

The second primary school will be about the same size as the first — 10 rooms — and will be of the same type, says Mrs Stevenson. It was not anticipated that there would be any difficulty in opening this school by May 1, 1966. A third primary school would, if built, be of similar construction to the first two. This would not, however, be necessary if proposals to establish a Form 1 to 6 school were accepted. "If reasonable secondary facilities are to be avaiiable in Turangi during the period of peak rolls, a Form I - VI school which would justify permanenc post-primary accommodation for 401 or more pupils (estimated residual roll, Form I - VI) appears to be the logical answer," she said. "The specialist accommodation for a school with this roll is only two specialist rooms short of requirements for the peak roll of 701-f. (One of these is a laboratory for which temporary facilities can be provided in an ordinary classroom at moderate. cost. The other is a second library, which can also be provided economically in a classroom.) "On the other hand, specialist facilities for 201-f-pupils (estimated residual roll Form III - VI) falls five specialist rooms short of the requirements of the peak roll of 401 -f pupils. "An important deficiency would be lack of full manual and technical facilities. "As the firm estimates now to hand indicate the capital expenditure for a Form I - VI school, plus two primary schools is no greater than the cost of a Form III - VI school, plus three primary schools, the

detailed proposals for the former, are receiving close attention. Unless some factors not at present apparent emerge, this proposal will be strongly supported. "The question of timing the translation of the present secondary department of the District High School to full post-primary status will also receive attention. South Auckland Education Board can hardly be expected to complete the postprimary buildings before the beginning of 1967, but the translation itself could take place at any time after the post-primary roll reaches about 200. "On the estimate of school population provided by the Ministry of Works, this could be as early as the beginning of 1966. "It is believed that the South Auckland Education Board is willing to agree to translation at this date, provided some tolerance is allowed in determining the grade of the school in order to avoid unnecessary changes of staff within a year or so. "At present, it appears to be a workable proposition to appoint some secondary staff from the beginning of next year and to change over to Form I - VI organisation at the beginning of 1967, when the new post- > primary accommodation is completed."