Principal Tracey Turfrey said after three long years, the Niche modular classrooms and administration block arrived on school grounds on March 4 and 6.
She said the delivery stoppedeveryone in their tracks, including the wider community, who could see the fleet of trucks arrive and the crane place the buildings on site.
“Everyone is really excited about what is going on and our new school finally coming together.
Ōtāne School student ambassadors Lucia-Blue Wilkinson (left), Payton Jolly, Emily Tier, Makayza Harris, with principal Tracey Turfrey, Alissa-Lee Waerea and site manager Shane Kiriau outside the new admin block at Ōtāne School.
“They [students] were all sitting outside as part of class time watching it happen and went back into class and did some writing about it- it’s all relevant.”
The new classrooms funded by the Ministry of Education came as the school was due a rebuild, Turfrey said.
She said the old classrooms were damp, would leak, and the window frames were rotting, so the entire school “desperately needed to be replaced”.
“When it rained especially with Cyclone Gabrielle, with that influx of rain and the pure volume, [it] saturated the ceiling where the water was sitting and it fell through in some areas - we literally had a waterfall in a couple of the classrooms.”
The former classrooms were demolished in December 2024 and January 2025 with some parts such as the good window frames and doors distributed to the community.
Turfrey said the Ministry of Education funded and replaced “like for like”, so the school received four new classrooms and an admin block.
Ōtāne School had new classrooms delivered on March 4 and 6, and plan to be learning in them by Term 2, 2025.
During this process, the 91 students enrolled at the school from Years 0 to 8 had been learning from two temporary buildings provided by the Ministry of Education and three from another school.
Turfrey who took over the role as principal 12 months into the planning stage said the buildings came in individual modules and three units were put together to complete a building.
“They have everything - they are all carpeted and everything is up on the wall.”
She said each classroom had a sink and break-out space, and with enough room to accommodate growth, which they had expected with the new housing development nearby.
The four new classrooms and an admin block were described as being spacious by the principal.
“They look quite spacey, we are really excited we thought they might have been a bit small but looking in them... they look amazing.”
She said it was a great feeling as principal to see the build in the final stages, and said the school would look different but continue to foster the value of identity - a key learning focus for 2025.
“The children are starting fresh and it then becomes their space...they will genuinely own that space and turn it into something they call their own.”
She hoped the classrooms would help the children feel excited to be at school.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
