College awarded own zone

Principal Sheryll Ofner is flanked by head boy Callum Findlay and head girl Satya Sebenik. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Formerly troubled Selwyn in Kohimarama has undergone a remarkable turnaround.

An Auckland school will have a zone for the first time after a remarkable turnaround in its results and reputation.

The move at Selwyn College in Kohimarama is part of a wider effort to cope with the growth in Auckland's population, much of which is within existing city boundaries.

After a direction by the Ministry of Education, Selwyn will have a school zone from next year.

The new zone - an area where about 2000 secondary-school-aged students already live - will include a number of streets currently in the sought-after catchment areas for Auckland Grammar School and Epsom Girls Grammar. The zone for Glendowie College also overlaps.

Under a proposal, developed by Selwyn's board of trustees, the zone would stretch from Tamaki Drive on the waterfront up to Abbotts Way in Greenlane.

The college's new zone comes after a remarkable turnaround.

A little over six years ago, the Government took over its governance after poor student results, and a bitter fight for control by opposing parent groups.

However, under the direction of current principal Sheryll Ofner and a new board of trustees, Selwyn has made progress that leading education expert Professor John Hattie said was some of the most marked he had seen.

Although Selwyn has no enrolment scheme, many children of nearby residents are effectively zoned for the school by being excluded from the zones of other state schools.

Near the height of its troubles, in 2007, only about 15 per cent of the students lived in the area, with many local parents feeling its focus on the arts came at the expense of other subjects.

Now, a majority of the past couple of years' intake are locals, with feeder schools reporting almost all students going on to Selwyn.

"The overarching strategic goal of the school has been to become a school that the local community are happy to send their kids to," Ms Ofner told the Herald. "So we're very happy to have a scheme."

Katrina Casey, the ministry's head of sector enablement and support, said the roll was 961 and it was projected to grow to 1161 by 2016.

"The Selwyn College board of trustees need to ensure they don't become overcrowded in the future and we are supporting them to identify an enrolment scheme that will address their concerns."

There was no proposal to reduce the home zones of the three overlapping schools and students in the overlapping areas would have a choice of all schools, Ms Casey said.

"If the proposed home zone is approved, these secondary schools will only be affected if students in the proposed area of overlap choose to go to Selwyn College in preference to the other schools."

Joze Sebenik has had three daughters attend the school, including current head girl 17-year-old Satya.

He said he worried that some of the college's character and diversity might be affected by the new zone.

"We were all a bit shocked that all of those areas - Glen Innes, Pt England - they're all out now. And [the Government] would rather involve Ellerslie and parts of Remuera which, on the first look, it seems like a ... posh move to get richer people in."

But he said his family were very happy with the school, which traditionally focused on art, drama and performance, which his girls enjoyed.

Ms Ofner said the ministry itself came up with the zone area.

"Like every school, there will be the ability to have out-of-zone enrolments and I would anticipate that that will remain. So I don't necessarily see the diversity threatened."

- additional reporting, Vaimoana Tapaleao

nzherald.co.nz
Read about Selwyn's NCEA success here: tinyurl.com/stellarschool