Tarawera High School

Tarawera High School
Te Kaunga Wharangi - The Turning of a New Page New Beginnings
Location
River Road Kawerau 3169 New Zealand
Coordinates	38°5′13.46″S 176°42′34.07″E / 38.0870722°S 176.7094639°ECoordinates: 38°5′13.46″S 176°42′34.07″E / 38.0870722°S 176.7094639°E
Information
Funding type	State
Opened	2014 (1955 as Kawerau District High School, 1963 as Kawerau College)
Ministry of Education Institution no.	661
Years offered	7–13
Gender	Coeducational
Colour(s)	Blue, Gold
Slogan	Grow Strive Achieve Serve
School roll	461[1] (March 2016)
Socio-economic decile	1B[2]
Website	tarawera.school.nz

Tarawera High School is a secondary school located in Kawerau, New Zealand. It is the only secondary school serving the town, and serves students from Years 7 to 13. The school was formed as a result of the closure of both Kawerau College and Kawerau Intermediate School, and sits on the Kawerau College site. The school had a roll of 460 as of November 2014.

Students

According to the Ministry of Education, Tarawera High School has a gender composition of 56% male, and 44% female.^[3] The major ethnicity at the school is Māori, being 86% of students. This is followed by New Zealand European with 14% of students.

Closure of Kawerau College and Creation

Kawerau College was previously the secondary school serving the Kawerau District, until its closure at the end of 2012. Kawerau Intermediate School closed at the same time. It was reported that the closure of both schools was met with 'noisy community opposition'.^[4] The schools were then rebranded as Tarawera High School, which opened at the start of the school year in 2013. The school is located on the old Kawerau College site, on River Road, and uses the facilities already there. Helen Tuhoro, who was Deputy Principal of Kawerau College for four years before being Deputy Principal at Trident High School, was appointed as the new principal.^[5] She was selected from four shortlisted applicants.

Re-development

In August 2013 Education Minister Hekia Parata, and Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye, announced a $15.64 million investment in new facilities for the school.^[6] The announcement stated that the new facilities would be progressively built, so the school will be able to continue operating during construction. At the end of July 2014, re-development began, with construction set for September.^[7] The new facilities will replace 60% of the existing buildings, and will provide a modern teaching space for 525 students with a library, a wharenui, technology and performance spaces, an administration block, and a wireless fibre network.^[8] The re-development was said to feature environmentally sustainable initiatives, such as solar heating. Work is expected to be completed by the end of 2015.

References

1. "Directory of Schools - as at 18 April 2016". New Zealand Ministry of Education. Retrieved 2015-04-19.
2. "Decile Change 2014 to 2015 for State & State Integrated Schools". Ministry of Education. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
3. "Tarawera High School - School Statistics". Education Review Office. 26 November 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
4. "Pre-adolescents forced into high schools". Stuff.co.nz. 6 July 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
5. "Kawerau college's new head named". Rotorua Daily Post. 6 August 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
6. "New facilities for Tarawera High School". beehive.govt.nz. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
7. "$15.6m Tarawera High School redevelopment". Rotorua Daily Post. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
8. "$15.6m redevelopment of Tarawera High School begins". Scoop. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2015.

External links

• School Website