Discussions whether Wakefield School becomes a full primary were in full swing last week when parents were invited to attend a meeting to make their voices heard. Around 70 parents turned out for the event, which is part of a wider review of schools in the Richmond / Waimea area by the Ministry of Education. The MoE have identified the need for several local schools to recapitate, which means to change from a Year 1-6 school to a Year 1-8 school to help reduce roll growth pressure on Waimea Intermediate in Richmond. Those schools are Wakefield, Brightwater, Ranzau, Appleby and Hope. The MoE have asked the schools to give feedback on how the community feels about the proposal. “At this stage, it’s a chance for us to give information about the recapitation proposal to the community,” says Peter Verstappen, principal for Wakefield School. “The meeting was also a chance for parents to raise questions with us that we can now take to the Ministry of Education for answers.”
Unusually, it was the MoE who approached the schools in the region with the suggestion of recapitation, as opposed to the other way round. “Generally, a community have already come together to decide that recapitation is needed before the Ministry of Education get involved,” says Peter. “But they approached us with growing concern over future numbers at Waimea Intermediate. At present, we are just getting a feel of how this would affect us in terms of change. No decisions will be made for a long time yet.”
It’s thought there will be a lot more discussion between parents, the school and the MoE before things get put to a public vote. “We still don’t know what the other schools in the cluster are doing and if that will impact what we do,” says Peter.
Wakefield is one of the few schools in the cluster which already has the capacity of classrooms to handle the recapitation, which means they are in a good position should the proposal go ahead. Other schools may have to build extra classrooms to deal with the overflow. “Nothing will happen until at least 2023,” says Peter.