Fire-damaged school to reopen at start of term

Clean-up is underway at Glendowie Primary School. Photo / Dean Purcell

An Auckland primary school badly damaged by fire earlier this month is set to rise from the ashes, thanks to an amazing display of community support.

A two-storey block of nine classrooms was razed after a fire was lit under the art department in a recently renovated part of Glendowie Primary School on January 7.

The school is well on track to reopen at the start of the new term on February 3, and a huge team of tradesmen are working to get the school ready.

"Work is progressing incredibly well," principal Anne-Marie Biggs told NZPA today.

"There are now seven relocatable classrooms on site to replace the ones destroyed by fire, with a total of 11 expected by tomorrow." One toilet block was still to be delivered, and another would be built on site.

"The smoke damaged areas are also expected to be painted to be ready on time, and the cleaning is well on the way," Ms Biggs said.

"We're beginning to slowly make orders for contents because we've lost all our library books and all our junior resources."

Parents had been coming in and helping by covering, ordering and processing books.

"Certainly we're on track to have everything up and running by February 3 in terms of buildings, and we've ordered the furniture for all the rooms.

"I'm expecting that when the children come back we look forward rather than the back," Ms Biggs said.

Auckland-based Playground People have offered the school some playground equipment which will be placed on the field area for the juniors. Former Warriors captain Steve Price will be opening the playground on February 3.

"We're making great inroads in terms of where we're up to and the Ministry of Education has been absolutely magic, by being able to get all these people on deck and get everything in on time," Ms Biggs said.

Ms Biggs said St Andrews Residential Home had been a fantastic neighbour.

"They have let us use their driveway as an access way for diggers and trucks, and have been very patient and understanding about the increased traffic," she said.

Donations, baking, cards and offers of support continue to flood in from individuals and local businesses, with many fundraising events being organised to help the school.

"It's an amazing community response," Ms Biggs said.

An emergency meeting was held last Monday between the principal and members of the school's board of trustees, staff and officials from the Ministry of Education over what to do about the fire.

The damaged buildings, which made up about a third of the school's classrooms, have been demolished.

"The ministry will provide ongoing support to help the board, principal, teachers and their school community to ensure minimal disruption to children's learning," the ministry's northern regional manager Bruce Adin said.

Police inquiries were continuing into the fire, which was still being treated as suspicious.

There were still no suspects at this stage, Detective Sergeant Kathy Bostock, of Glen Innes police, told NZPA.

"Dozens of witnesses who saw the fire have been spoken to and there is a lot of CCTV (closed circuit television) footage to go through as well."

- NZPA