Tauranga Special School expansion: Government to fund new Te Puke classrooms

Tauranga Special School principal Barrie Wickens. Photo / Brydie Thompson

Tauranga Special School’s principal is “chuffed” at confirmation the Government will fund two satellite classes in Te Puke.

Budget 2025 allocated $30m to expand specialist school property by funding the construction of 18 new satellite classrooms at host schools nationwide and five additional classrooms at two base specialist schools.

Tauranga Special School has satellite sites all around the city including at Papamoa College, Tauranga Intermediate, Welcome Bay Primary and Te Kura o Manunui.

Its two new classrooms, to be built at Te Puke Primary School, will accommodate 16 students.

Principal Barrie Wickens said he was “chuffed” at the announcement.

“It’s a significant step.”

Most specialist schools around the country had long waiting lists of students with additional needs, Wickens said.

To attend a specialist school, students must meet a lot of criteria to be verified as high needs or very high needs.

“Essentially, they have to have some form of intellectual impairment.”

Some students also had disabilities and high to severe needs. The students at Tauranga Special School were between 5 and 21 years old.

The special school offered therapy; support staff and teaching catered specifically for student of high needs.

Tauranga Special School celebrated its 60th anniversary in May. When it opened, it had only 11 students compared to today’s 122 students, plus its waiting list of 21 people.

“We get inquires every day. We’re in demand,” he said.

Minister of Education Erica Stanford said in a statement thatmany parents of children with high needs wanted the option of a specialist education setting.

“Right now, those choices are limited because our specialist schools are stretched beyond capacity.”

Stanford said construction for the new classrooms would begin in the next 12 months.

Rotorua MP Todd McClay said the two new classrooms planned for Te Puke were a “big win for local families”.

Rotorua MP Todd McClay. Photo / Andrew Warner

“It means better support for children with high learning needs and greater confidence for the parents and teachers who back them every day.

“This investment gives parents greater choice and confidence, knowing their children can learn in an environment built to support their individual needs.”

McClay said the two satellite classrooms would help ease pressure on specialist schools and ensure more students could access the support they needed in their own communities.

“Specialist schools play a vital role in our community, and I am grateful for their incredible work for the parents and students of Rotorua.”