New school ready to open

READY: Academic Colleges Group development manager Barbara Burns and ACG chief information officer Ben Statham at the new school in Pyes Pa. PHOTO/ANDREW WARNER

The buildings are up and the grass is planted ready for Tauranga's newest school to open in just over two weeks.

ACG Tauranga, a private school to be operated by the Academic Colleges Group, will open its doors for the first time on February 2, with a roll of under 40 pupils.

Annual fees this year are $14,200 for a Year 1 to 6 pupil or $16,600 for a Year 7 to 9 child for a lump-sum payment.

As well as Tauranga locals, students would also be bussing to school from Katikati, Rotorua and Te Puke.

ACG development manager Barbara Burns said 12 classrooms would open in February, followed by the science block and later a pre-school. The current buildings, designed for low environmental impact, can accommodate 300 students and Ms Burns expected it would take three to four years to reach that capacity.

Year by year, the school will take on an older age group and by 2019, will be open for children from pre-school to Year 13.

The 15ha site is being levelled out and prepared for the secondary school block to be built in about three years' time, as well as finishing three international sized sports fields. The buildings will form an L shape with administration in the centre, the primary wing parallel to State Highway 26 and the secondary block, which is likely to be multi-storeyed, facing north.

Ms Burns said the 96sq m classrooms were designed to be integrated so they were larger than most.

Each class features special acoustics, underfloor heating and its own sink and bench. They will be set up to run with Apple electronic equipment that can work alongside students' Bring Your Own Device iPads or Apple laptops, depending on age.

Ms Burns said the school would be using the Cambridge curriculum which had a strong focus on literacy and numeracy. The school would not use NCEA.

The 10 teachers already employed will start work on Monday at Ignition, until the buildings are fitted out.

Ben Statham, ACG chief information officer, said he was looking to build an auditorium and gymnasium in the future. He would also like to see a high ropes course on the property.

Mr Statham said the school had its own bore on site and could store 300cu m of water. It also had its own generator, both of which were important in case of power or water cut, possibilities in a rural zone alongside a state highway where road accidents could occur. NZME.