Christchurch: Eastern Schools Emptying

Some Christchurch schools are less than two-thirds full – and one is languishing at less than a third capacity – as the city’s popular schools expand at their expense according to stuff.co.nz.

Schools suffering the most are in the eastern suburbs of Christchurch.

Education Ministry figures obtained by The Press reveal that Aranui High School is less than 59 per cent full, with 500 students fewer than its classroom capacity of 1252. Linwood College is 476 students under capacity, and Hornby High 219 under. Worst affected is Catholic Cathedral College, an integrated school, which is only 31 per cent full.

While these schools have space to spare, eight Christchurch high schools have enrolled more students than they have space for, including some from outside their zones. Popular schools include Burside High school, one of the largest schools in New Zealand, with 2400 students and Riccarton High School both in the west of the city.

Enrolment schemes are the main mechanism for controlling rolls across the school network. However parents are increasingly keen to enrol their children in what they consider to be a ‘good’ school.

Aranui’s roll has dropped steeply from a high of almost 1200 six years ago, at the same time as the city’s secondary population has grown.

Secondary numbers are expected to peak this year, however, and schools will compete even harder to fill next year’s rolls.

Ministry southern regional manager Michael De’Ath said enrolment schemes should ensure that schools did not grow at the expense of other schools with space.

Schools could enrol to their capacity using a mix of in and out-of-zone students, but school boards had to supply their own classrooms for out-of-zone students once they hit capacity.

Ministry projections for the secondary school-age population show numbers will continue to increase in the north-east of the city, and Halswell, but will shrink in areas like Aranui, Mount Pleasant, North Beach, North Linwood and Opawa.

There is a greater concentration of school-age children in the north-west of Christchurch, where there has been more in-fill housing, while Halswell and the city’s north-east have experienced rapid growth.

Aranui was traditionally a State housing area for young families but families have now aged and there are fewer school-age children in the area.