Terrace End School principal Warrick Price with students (from left) Aaliyah Pere, 11, Saphira Farrell, 7, and Jade Watene, 7. Photo / Judith Lacy
Warrick Price knows he sounds like a real estate agent but he does have much to show visitors.
Opened in 1884, Terrace End School is the second-oldest school in Palmerston North.
Thanks to a building programme that started in 2017 and finished this year, the oldest classroom at the school is just 6 years old.
Principal Price describes this as remarkable.
In 2017-18, seven classrooms plus a multipurpose space were built at the Ruahine St school.
The 2022-23 building work has been in two phases and undertaken by Alexander Construction Central.
Phase one was rebuilding the administration block offices including for the learning support co-ordinator, the staffroom, reception and the sick bay.
Phase two was renovating two classrooms, two offices and two storerooms.
Many of the internal walls were able to stay in phase two as, unlike the old admin block, it was not leaking, Price said.
The two phases cost $1.8 million. It was paid for using a combination of weather tightness funding, Innovative Learning Environment funding and learning support co-ordinator funding.
Price acknowledged the work of his predecessor Sue Allomes on the rebuild and modernisation programme. Allomes was principal from 2008 to 2021.
The roll is climbing with 72 enrolments this year. It sits at 197 while this time last year there were 172 children enrolled, he says.
Critically, children are staying, as are experienced, committed staff. “It’s just magic,” Price says.
Student attendance has improved and the school has started a newcomers club, in which new students are matched with a student ambassador.
They take the newbies through a range of activities to learn school systems and these are marked off in a passport.
Ambassadors are easily identified by their fluoro vests.
The school has a classroom capacity of 225 and the board is exploring having an enrolment zone, Price says.
Terrace End is working with Sport New Zealand and Sport Manawatū on the Neighbourhood Play System.
It is a new approach to creating play in communities that places the key stakeholder - tamariki (children) - at the centre of the process.
Opportunities and barriers for tamariki to play at the school and within a 750-metre radius have been identified.
Active transport to and from school has been assessed, as have the traffic, demographics and social needs.
Price is thrilled the city council installed a raised pedestrian crossing outside the school in May in response to the neighbourhood play work.
There had been so many near-misses, Price said. The crossing has slowed down traffic and improved the visibility of pedestrians.
Vehicles are now ready to stop as they approach the crossing, while before they continued to drive along Ruahine St at 50-60km/h.
The Year 1 to 6 school is well-positioned and the vision is for it to be the community’s education and learning hub.
It already has a mountain bike track, fitness circuit and a nice playground in a park-like setting, Price said.
A new uniform is being introduced next year, as part of the school going from good to great.
Price wants children to feel they are number one, not through arrogance but identity.
Terrace End has 14 teacher aides and 10 teachers, two out of the classroom.
Police said those involved were known to each other.