Hāwera community prefers a joint primary and intermediate school

The Ministry of Education has finished their first engagement process with the Hāwera community about the future of their schools. Photo / Supplied

The Hāwera community is having its say on the future of the town's school structure and the resources and facilities needed.

In a Ministry of Education community engagement process, participants were asked to rate their preferred options for the future structure of the school system, and the public can still give feedback.

Both Hāwera Intermediate School and Hāwera High School are waiting for substantial rebuilding projects. A large part of the intermediate was destroyed by a fire in 2015 and the high school has historical issues with weathertightness and earthquake strengthening.

A similar consultation process, led by the Education Hawera Facilitation Group, was undertaken in 2017; however, school boards and principals in the area have since changed and a new engagement process was conducted by an external facilitator.

"We have been engaging with the Hāwera community to seek their aspirations for education provision for Years 7-13 in Hāwera," Ministry of Education deputy secretary of sector enablement and support Katrina Casey said.

"This includes the resources and facilities they consider would best enable or support these aspirations."

In an online survey, the 362 participants were asked to rate their preferences for six options.

One-third of the participants voted to expand primary school education so it spanned Year 1 to Year 8 and then transition to a secondary school for Years 9 to 13 as it would require fewer transitions.

However, participants were clear that this was only the preferred option if all primary schools extended to Year 8. If not, support for this option would drop significantly and other options would be preferred.

The next most popular option was to establish a Year 7 to 13 secondary school, followed by the option of a Year 7 to 10 "middle school" and a Year 11 to 13 senior school on the same site.

A separate consultation with Ngāruahine iwi participants found the second option was their most favoured.

The current structure, a Year 7-8 intermediate and a Year 9-13 secondary school on separate sites, was not a highly rated option.

Casey said this is the first stage of the engagement process and a summary and full report of the feedback has been provided to all schools, early childhood services, iwi and the Hāwera community so they can provide comment.

"When we have their views we will be able to determine any next steps, and that would include further discussions and implications for property investment in the short or medium term. We will continue to ensure we work with the Hāwera community as this work progresses."

The public is welcome to ask any questions or provide feedback on the information in the report by emailing enquiries.whanganui@education.govt.nz before February 19, 2021.

By March 5, the ministry will provide a report to the Minister of Education about the engagement process and the minister will determine the next steps by the end of March.