$32.8M Boost: 34 New Classrooms and Gym for 10 Growing NZ Schools

Staff and students at ten schools with significant roll growth pressure will benefit from 34 additional classrooms and a new gym, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.

The $32.8 million investment has been made possible through savings in the school property portfolio. Since July 2024, more efficient planning, prioritisation and delivery has generated over $330 million in savings to be reinvested into school property.

Every dollar we save through more efficient delivery is put into the classrooms and facilities schools need, Ms Stanford says.

We are focused on getting better value from the school property portfolio so we can invest more where the pressure is greatest.

Schools receiving additional classrooms or facilities: Avondale Primary School (Auckland) – 4 classrooms Berkley Normal Middle School (Waikato) – 4 classrooms Botany Downs Secondary College (Auckland) – 8 classrooms Chapel Downs Junior College (Auckland) – new gym Gilberthorpe School (Canterbury) – 2 classrooms Massey High School (Auckland) – 6 classrooms Massey High School (Auckland) | Satellites for Arohanui Special School – 4 classrooms Takanini School (Auckland) – 2 classrooms Te Waka Unua School (Canterbury) – 2 classrooms Waitara High School (Taranaki) – 2 classrooms The additional classrooms are spread across Auckland, Waikato, Taranaki and Canterbury and include four new satellite learning support classrooms for Arohanui Special School, based at Massey High School.

The new Chapel Downs Junior College will also receive its gym earlier than previously planned, with construction expected to begin around April 2027 and completion targeted for mid-2028.

Projects will be delivered through standard designs or offsite manufacturing to support more efficient delivery, with work starting over the next 12 months on all projects receiving reprioritised funding.

Today’s announcement builds on the nearly 1,400 new classrooms funded across New Zealand over the past three years, with more students learning in new, warm, safe and dry classrooms.

We are delivering more bang for buck by improving the way school property is planned and built. This means our funding is going further, and even more classrooms can be delivered, Ms Stanford says.

ENDS Notes to editors: The four classrooms at Massey High School for Arohanui Special School will be satellite classrooms. Satellite classrooms are associated with a base specialist school but located on the site of another school.