Long wait to fix school nearly over

Northland College principal Jim Luders outside the school's run-down C Block. PICTURE / DEBBIE BEADLE

Repairs are expected to start soon at Northland College after a frustrating three-year wait for staff and students in increasingly run-down buildings.

The Kaikohe school with a roll of 290 hit national headlines last week after it was described as having the worst classrooms in New Zealand.

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College repair work begins at last

The coverage sparked a flurry of activity and top-level meetings between school staff, ministry officials and Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye. Yesterday a property manager for the Ministry of Education spent the day inspecting the buildings and collating a long list of urgently required repairs.

Most of the buildings are slated for demolition so the work will focus on immediate health and safety fixes to keep the students warm and dry, property manager Bob Eadie said.

Problems identified yesterday included rotting ceilings, mould, leaks, trip hazards, broken doors and windows.

The toilets in C Block, where most lessons take place, were judged to be beyond repair. A new toilet block will be built.

Principal Jim Luders said he was "very, very pleased" with the response and believed the ministry was genuine about wanting to get the school's problems fixed as quickly as possible.

Crucially, the cost of the repairs will not come out of the money set aside for rebuilding the school.

Image 1 of 8: Leaky downpipe

Mr Luders said the conditions made it hard for the students to focus or believe they really could succeed if they applied themselves.

"They're lovely kids. They deserve better."

He was also concerned for the health and safety of his staff, and the state of the buildings made it hard to recruit new teachers.

Year 13 student Sally Pope-Martin said she had been surprised by the state of the school when she shifted from Okaihau College.

The library had few books, the toilets had mould and broken taps, walls and ceilings were holed, and a window once fell off C Block as she was walking past.

However, she was impressed by the way students and teachers "just get on with it" despite their surroundings.

Sally said the only answer was to knock the buildings down and start again - and then for students to treat the new buildings well.

Mr Luders said the school had not sought publicity but had been approached by a New Zealand Herald reporter after she read an ERO report in which inspectors were horrified to find repairs they had deemed urgent in 2012 had not been done three years later.

Funding for repairs was approved several years ago but the project had kept being delayed.