Five-year-old excited for first day of school

Charlie Hamer can't wait to start school on Thursday. Photo/George Novak

Five-year-old Charlie Hamer has been waiting for his first day of school.

Charlie will be starting at Tauranga Primary on Thursday, joining other 5-year-olds around the city starting school for the first time this week.

Charlie turned 5 in December, which meant he watched many of his friends from daycare at Ark Childcare head off to school while he waited for the start of the new school year.

Mum Tyler Sadler said Charlie had been really excited about going to school.

"Most of his friends have already started so he's been waiting all summer."

Charlie said he was ready to go and he had already got his uniform.

"I want to see my friends and I'm looking forward to learning to read books on my own," he said. "I'm most excited about seeing my friends."

He has had three school visits and said he liked his teacher, who he thought was nice. He had also liked playing on the playground.

"He's talking about school all the time," Miss Sadler said. "He doesn't like going to daycare anymore because he's excited about going to school."

Miss Sadler said she was happy Charlie was going to school as she felt like he was ready to go.

"But I'll be doing a sneaky drive-by at lunch time to see how he's going."

School rolls growing

Seventeen million dollars worth of expansions to Bay schools have been approved in the Bay already this year as school rolls continue to grow rapidly.

Western Bay of Plenty school principals quoted in the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend on Saturday said they were continuing to feel the squeeze from the region's growth as pupil roll numbers climbed, stretching resources.

In the Bay of Plenty, Papamoa College and Golden Sands School have undergone significant expansions, Otumoetai School, Bellevue School, Bethlehem School, Te Wharekura o Mauao and Brookfield School have new classrooms, and schools such as Pillans Point School are also on track for additional classrooms.