Fitzpatrick smashed a window with a rock then climbed a fence at the rear of the classroom trailer unit, used a basketball hoop to climb up onto the roof of the trailer unit then lowered himself through the window.
Once inside, he used a lighter to set fire to some curtains beside the smashed window and also lit a poster. He remained inside as the fire spread until he was overwhelmed by the smoke and fled via the back door.
Once outside he watched as the mobile classroom went up in flames before phoning the fire service and telling them the location of the blaze.
Fitzpatrick waited and approached members of the public at the scene, asking them what was happening, before he hid in the school netball courts and watched the fire crews putting out the fire.
He eventually approached one of the attending police officers and said he had told the fire service about the blaze.
The mobile classroom and its contents were destroyed .
The Life Education Trust is a charitable trust which uses the mobile classroom to provide around 14,000 Western Bay students from primary school age upwards with the skills to make informed life choices.
The replacement cost for the mobile classroom was $230,000 plus $30,000 for its contents.
The insurance company involved has already paid out the Life Education Trust, and is now seeking $260,000 reparation from Fitzpatrick.
Fitzpatrick's lawyer, Hannah Douglas, urged Judge Paul Geoghegan to call for a psychiatric report along with the pre-sentence report.
Ms Douglas said Fitzpatrick had a history of psychological issues and his statement to police about why he started the fire raised self-harm concerns.
But Judge Geoghegan said without evidence that Fitzpatrick had been operating under some kind of mental disability, and there was nothing to suggest the teen had been, so he would not call for a psychiatric or psychologist's report .
The judge remanded Fitzpatrick on bail under strict terms, including a 24-hour-a-day curfew.
Speaking after Fitzpatrick's court appearance, Education Trust trustee Astrid Martin said there had been a huge amount of support from schools and businesses since the fire.
School children and businesses in the Bay have donated $8000 towards resourcing a new Life Education Trust mobile classroom.
"A number of schools have held fundraisers and a number of businesses have kindly donated in kind and monetary donations. The support from the community has been fantastic and we are extremely grateful for that," she said.
And Harold the Giraffe, the trust's iconic mascot, had received many letters.
"Especially the little ones who don't understand, they were very, very concerned about Harold in particular," Mrs Martin said.
The classroom, which will be the first of its kind, is expected to be completed during the first half of next year.
The trust has been using a temporary truck from Auckland since the region's mobile classroom was destroyed.
Although the classroom and its fittings were insured, a lot of resources would have to be funded by the trust, she said.
The new mobile classroom is being designed to accommodate evolving technology.
