Wakefield School to transition to full primary

Wakefield School’s board of trustees has announced the school will transition to a full primary in 2024.

This means the school will retain its year 7 and 8 students, returning to a model last seen at the school in the late 1950s, before the opening of Waimea Intermediate. The transition will begin with a year 7 programme in 2024 and grow to year 8 in 2025.

Wakefield will be the first of a group of local schools invited by the Ministry of Education to consider the full primary model to ease future roll pressure at Waimea Intermediate.

The other schools in the spotlight are Ranzau, Appleby, Brightwater and Hope.

The ministry predicts an estimated 2830 additional households in the Waimea schooling network by 2028, and 9445 extra dwellings by 2048.

As a result, they predict 3000 more state school students in the region by 2048.

The shift, known as ‘recapitation’, follows 18 months of discussion with the Wakefield community and negotiations with the ministry and other local schools.

Wakefield School board of trustees chairperson Ryan Edwards says they are pleased with the decision, which reflects the view of a large majority of the Wakefield school families.

“We held several information evenings and dozens of conversations with our families, and then ran a survey. All pointed to strong support for the change.”

He says the community likes the idea of children completing their primary schooling in a familiar environment.

“We think having just a single transition from primary to secondary will improve their learning progress.”

He says the board of trustees has worked closely with ministry staff to ensure a smooth and positive transition, including a two-year period when families will be able to choose between Waimea Intermediate and Wakefield School, and guaranteed minimum staffing during this time.

When the transition is completed, Wakefield will be removed from the Waimea Intermediate School zone.

Ryan says the community has been well served by Waimea Intermediate over many years and the board looks forward to continuing a positive relationship with them during the transition period.

Wakefield School principal Peter Verstappen says the school is well placed to make the change to a full primary.

“We’ve got enough classrooms, at least for the first few years. We’re setting up our staffing to manage the shift, and our learning programmes will adapt smoothly to the older age group.”

He acknowledges the first question parents often ask is how the school will deliver a year 7/8 technology programme.

“A common approach is for students to travel once a week or fortnight to a local technology centre, which in our case may continue to be Waimea Intermediate for at least the first few years.”

He says there are excellent models of full primary schools running their own technology programmes which Wakefield will consider.

The board of trustees will now apply to the ministry to approve the change, a process it expects to take a few months.