This learning community cluster includes four state primary schools, four state integrated schools, one kura, one independent school and 13 early childhood education providers.

As part of renewal planning, the Minister of Education announced a final decision in May 2013 to retain Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Waitaha and Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Whanau Tahi (which currently sits in the Halswell Learning Community Cluster) as separate entities on their existing sites.

Supporting information for final decision

• Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Waitaha education report [PDF; 35.2mb]
• Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Waitaha submission [PDF; 32.1mb]

Documents are available in PDF format only. Accessible versions can be supplied on request from info@minedu.govt.nz

View supporting information for interim decisions for all schools in this learning community cluster on the interim decisions page.

The map below shows the current makeup of the learning community cluster.

 

Schooling                 

1. Beckenham School
2. Opawa School
3. St Martins School
4. Waltham School
5. TKKM o Waitaha
6. St Mark’s School
7. St Peter’s School
8. Hillview Christian School
9. Rudolf Steiner School
10. Seven Oaks Education School

Early childhood education (ECE)

There are 565 licensed spaces across the early childhood education (ECE) providers in this cluster, including 66 for children under two years of age. At July 2011, 699 children were enrolled at early childhood services in this cluster, 62 were under two. 340 of the 347 new entrants who enrolled at a school in the St Martins Cluster in the year to March 2012 had attended an ECE service. Twenty eight of the 31 Māori new entrant students and all nine Pasifika new entrants had attended an ECE service.

Services

1. Kidsfirst Kindergarten Beckenham
2. Kidsfirst Kindergarten Hargest Crescent
3. Kidsfirst Kindergarten Opawa St Martins
4. ABC Beckenham
5. ABC St Martins
6. ABC Waltham
7. Christchurch Rudolf Steiner Kindergarten
8. Fingerprints Christian Preschool
9. Globalkids Early Learning Centre
10. Huntsbury Preschool
11. Poppies Preschool
12. Sydenham Community Preschool
13. Oterepo Kohanga Reo

ECE services are independently owned and managed.

School governance

There are three types of schools: state, private (or registered or independent) and state integrated schools. State integrated schools are former private schools which, while now “integrated” into the state system, also provide programmes around their particular religious or learning philosophy.

State and state integrated schools, while government funded, are managed by boards of trustees. Private schools receive only partial funding from the Government. Day to day management of all schools is the responsibility of the principal.

The Crown is responsible for property provision for state schools to ensure students have access to their closest school. The proprietors of state integrated and private schools are responsible for their own buildings. The St Martins cluster includes three state integrated schools and one independent school.

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.

St Martins cluster ERO review cycle

Beckenham School	Under Review
Opawa School	3 years
St Martin’s School	3 years
Waltham School	3 years
TKKM o Waitaha	In progress
St Mark’s School (Christchurch)	4-5 years
St Peter’s School (Beckenham)	3 years
Hillview Christian School	3 years
Rudolf Steiner School (Chch)	In progress
Seven Oaks Education Centre	3 years

 

School roll changes

In March 2010, prior to the earthquakes, the primary schools in this cluster provided teaching and learning to 1889 students. While individual rolls have fluctuated, the combined primary roll in this cluster has declined by 107 to 1782 at March 2012.

Individual school March rolls, 2008, 2010, and 2012:

Note: only roll data for primary schools in this cluster is displayed.

 

The following chart shows the ethnic composition of the combined cluster school rolls by percentage of total combined roll

 

Education achievement

National Standards aim to lift achievement in literacy and numeracy (reading, writing, and mathematics) by being clear about what students should achieve and by when. Boards are required to report on learner’s achievement for 2011 in their 2012 Annual Report. You will be able to access National Standards data for your school from the Find a school section of the Education Counts website as soon as this information is available.

Special Education

Special Education delivers specialist services and support to learners with special education needs across this cluster. This includes support to early childhood education, schools, teachers, parents, families and whānau. In addition, Ferndale School provides on-site support at Beckenham School with a classroom (satellite provision) for learners with high and ongoing education needs.

Māori and Pasifika provision

Māori-medium education programmes involve students being taught either all or some curriculum subjects in the Māori language, either in immersion (Māori language only) or bilingual (Māori and English) programmes. There are no Māori or Pasifika bilingual units or language programmes delivered by schools in this cluster. Māori immersion provision in this cluster is delivered at TKKM o Waitaha.

English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision

ESOL provision for refugee and new migrant learners from non-English speaking backgrounds is provided to 35 primary learners in 4 schools in this cluster. 

Technology

There is no specific technology provision located in this cluster. Schools are likely to be accessing it in neighbouring clusters. 

Land – State schools only

School sites sit outside the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) land classification process andwill not be given any Technical Category foundation rankings, though the land in the surrounding residential area of this cluster has been classified TC2, TC3 and Port Hills and Banks Peninsula zone. Geotechnical assessments on the state school sites in this cluster indicate land issues may compromise continued education provision.

Further Ministry commissioned assessments may be required at a later date, should any of these sites be further developed.

Buildings – State schools only

There are 71 teaching spaces included in the 7,962 square metres (of useable space) of teaching and learning and administration areas across this cluster of state schooling provision. The teaching, learning and administrative space is incorporated into 64 actual buildings. All of these buildings 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 13 buildings within the cluster. There are weather tightness issues in a further 12 buildings.

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
Beckenham School	21	21	3	4	0
Opawa School	14	14	2	4	0
St Martin’s School	20	20	4	3	1
Waltham School	9	9	4	1	1
Cluster	64	64	13	12	2

*State primary schools only. For TKKM O Waitaha data see Māori Medium Learning Community Cluster.

Based on March 2012 rolls – a minimum of 56 teaching spaces will be required for ongoing teaching and learning in this cluster, as below.

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
Beckenham School	419	19	409	17
Opawa School	376	20	358	15
St Martin’s School	491	26	443	19
Waltham School	129	6	121	5
Cluster	1415	71	1331	56

 

The way forward

Extensive condition assessments and engineering investigations have confirmed all buildings in this cluster 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.  Four are not considered cost effective to repair. This includes five 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 within this cluster will be key to informing decisions around the future shape of education for the St Martins education community. Ways to enhance infrastructure and address existing property issues, improve education outcomes, and consider future governance will form part of these discussions.

Community engagement

There will be conversations with boards of trustees to establish how schools in this cluster can not only restore services but also deliver improved outcomes for their education communities. In line with the support signalled in the Education Renewal Recovery Programme [PDF; 881kb] for improved collaboration, this will provide an opportunity to gain further suggestions around shared provision across schools and services within specific areas of interest and the wider community, as appropriate.

Check out the engagement schedule for further details.

Secondary schools

Secondary, state integrated and independent schools located within these clusters will be involved in discussions around the future shape of provision within their education communities.

The Ministry has worked collaboratively with secondary schools on ideas for future secondary school education provision in greater Christchurch.  In October 2013, the Minister of Education announced decisions for the secondary school network.