National, regional and local provision is based in greater Christchurch. 

National:

1. Halswell Residential College
2. McKenzie Residential School

 

Regional:

1. BLENNZ Visual Resource Centre @ Elmwood Normal School
2. Southern Regional Health School
3. Van Asch Deaf Education Centre

 

Greater Christchurch:

1. Allenvale Special School & Resource Centre
2. Allenvale Special School & Resource Centre Satellite @ Westburn School
3. Ferndale School
4. Ferndale School Satellite @ Bromley School
5. Ferndale School Satellite @ Glenmoor School
6. Ferndale School Satellite @ Northcote School
7. Ferndale School Satellite @ Wairakei School
8. Ferndale School Satellite @ Hammersley Park School
9. Ferndale School Satellite @ Beckenham School
10. Van Asch Deaf Education Centre Satellite @ Hagley Community College
11. Van Asch Deaf Education Centre Satellite @ Wharenui School
12. Waitaha School

School governance

Special Schools are state schools and while government funded, are managed by boards of trustees. Day to day management of all schools is the responsibility of the principal.

School boards are required to develop individual charters and annual plans and report their performance against these. You will be able to access the school charter from your school or on Find a school.

Education Review Office (ERO) reports on school and early childhood performance are publicly available.

Special school ERO review cycle

Allenvale Special School & Resource Centre	3 years
Ferndale School	3 years
Halswell Residential College	In progress
McKenzie Residential School	3 years
Southern Regional Health School	In progress
Star of the Sea School (Christchurch)	3 years
Van Asch Deaf Education Centre	In progress
Waitaha School	3 years

Education achievement

The majority of learners with special education needs progress and achieve against the National Standards. For others the achievement expectations will be set in relation to more finely graded progressions related to The New Zealand Curriculum or Te Mātauranga o Aotearoa and linked to the National Standards or Ngā Whanaketanga Rumaki Māori. Some of these learners may be working within level one of The New Zealand Curriculum or Te Matauranga o Aotearoa for the duration of their schooling. Boards of Trustees should ensure progress and achievement of these learners is reported.

You will be able to access National Standards data for your school from the Find a school section of theEducation Counts website as soon as this information is available.

Special Education specialist provision

Across greater Christchurch the majority of learners with special education needs/disabilities attend the local school in their local community supported by specialist staff/teams. Others may choose to attend a special school, or a satellite class located at a local school. A satellite class is staffed by a special school and enables learners to attend and participate in a regular school setting. Special schools (day and residential) provide the option of specialist teaching for high and very high needs learners and those with complex disabilities in settings which may or may not be local to where the students live.

In addition, the Specialist Teacher Outreach Service is delivered across greater Christchurch by the special schools. This itinerant teaching service provides specialist teaching knowledge to support learners and their teachers in any school community. Blind and Low Vision Network New Zealand (BLENNZ) and Van Asch Deaf Education Centre also contribute to the network of special education support available for learners with sensory needs. The Southern Regional Health School provides teachers for children in hospital or at home where they are too unwell to attend school. 

Land – State schools only

School sites sit outside the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) land classification process and will not be given any Technical Category foundation rankings, though the land in the surrounding residential area of this cluster has been classified TC2 and TC3. Geotechnical assessments on the state school sites in this cluster indicate land issues are unlikely to compromise continued education provision. Further ministry commissioned assessments may be required at a later date, should any of these sites be further developed. The Ministry has not undertaken any geotechnical investigations at Southern Regional Health School. 

Buildings – State schools only

There are 68 teaching spaces included in the 13,665 square metres (of useable space) of teaching and learning and administration areas, across this network of special schools.The teaching, learning and administrative space is incorporated into 109 actual buildings. All of these buildings have suffered damage during the earthquakes.  Repairs have yet to be made to the building stock. Condition assessments confirm earthquake strengthening will be required, over time, across 28 buildings and there are weather tightness issues in a further 12 buildings. Extensive assessments and engineering investigations have confirmed all buildings remain fit to occupy – unless already isolated.

Building condition information– State schools only

	Number of buildings	Number of buildings with EQ damage	Number of buildings with strengthening required	Number of buildings with weather tightness repairs required	Number of buildings with both strengthening and weather tightness repairs
Allenvale Special School & Res. Centre	9	9	2	1	1
Ferndale	10	10	2	2	0
Halswell Residential College	40	40	9	0	0
McKenzie Residential	12	12	4	3	2
Southern Regional Health School	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Van Asch Deaf Education Centre	33	33	11	1	1
Waitaha Learning Centre	5	5	0	5	0
Cluster	109	109	28	12	4

 

School rolls and classroom numbers – State schools only

	March 2010 roll	Classroom (no.) current (July 2012)	March 2012 roll	Estimated classrooms required at March 2012
Allenvale Special School & Res. Centre	124	11	127	n/a
Ferndale	89	6	96	n/a
Halswell Residential College	66	36	32	n/a
McKenzie Residential	29	5	24	n/a
Southern Regional Health School	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Van Asch Deaf Education Centre	28	3	20	n/a
Waitaha Learning Centre	20	5	30	n/a
Cluster	356	68	329	n/a

 

The way forward

Extensive condition assessments and engineering investigations have confirmed all buildings in this cluster currently remain fit to occupy – unless already isolated. A number of the buildings across this cluster will, however, require remediation and strengthening over the longer-term.  One is not considered cost effective to repair. This includes six teaching spaces. 

Future planning

The earthquakes provide an opportunity, as outlined in the Education Renewal Recovery Programme [PDF; 881kb], to consider options for revitalising the greater Christchurch education network that go beyond simply replacing what was there. Discussions with schools, communities and providers will be key to informing decisions around the future shape of education for the Special Education community. Ways to enhance infrastructure and address existing property issues, improve education outcomes, and consider future governance will form part of these discussions. Future planning for special school provision will take place in the context of planning for all education provision. Check out the engagement schedule (link to schedule) for further details.

Community engagement

Cluster support groups will be established to lead community engagement across the special education network. The Ministry of Education will support these groups in providing information to their communities and gathering feedback to identify the preferred way forward. Boards will formally consult with their communities where closures or mergers are indicated.

Check out the engagement schedule for further details.