Flat Bush Area - Schooling Strategy

• The Ministry of Education is seeking feedback on its proposal for new schools in the Flat Bush area of Manukau City.
• A new town is being built at Flat Bush and it's estimated that 40,000 people will live there within 15 years. That will make it New Zealand's largest new town.
• New schools are required to meet the education needs of the approximately 8,500 children who will live in Flat Bush by the time it is fully developed.
• Approximately half the children are expected to be primary school age and half will be intermediate and secondary school age.
• The Ministry's proposal is for five primary schools, including Baverstock Oaks School which opened in 2005; two junior high schools for Years 7 to 10 children; and one senior secondary school catering for Years 11 - 13.
• Two school sites are already owned by the Ministry of Education. These are Baverstock Oaks School in Baverstock Road and a site in Jeffs Road,which the Ministry proposes to develop for a contributing school and a junior high school.
• Baverstock Oaks School has opened as a full primary school, catering for children up to Year 8. In about 2008, Baverstock Oaks School will become a Years 1 to 6 school and its Year 7 and 8 children will go to one of the junior high schools.
• It's expected that the Jeffs Road schools will be needed between 2008 and 2011.
• The Ministry is currently going through a planning process to have land in Ormiston Road zoned for three schools - a contributing school, a junior high school and a senior secondary school. The senior secondary school would be built first, sometime between 2011 and 2016.
• Sites are being being investigated for two more contributing schools - one in south-west Flat Bush where a new primary school will be needed by 2011 and the other in south-east Flat Bush where a new primary school will be needed sometime after 2015.
• It is intended that there will be early childhood education centres on all school sites.
• The consultation now underway is seeking the community's views on the proposed strategy, which will guide the future planning for Flat Bush schools.

source: http://www.flatbushstrategy.co.nz/pages/faq.html