Future Education Provision in the Rolleston Area
There is ongoing and projected growth in the Rolleston area, meaning that additional secondary provision will likely be required by 2025. In the second half of 2020, we engaged with the community from Rolleston and its surrounding area regarding the educational needs given the population growth in the area.
The community was presented with options for a new secondary school which is required to meet this growth. The options were for a new independent state year 9 – 13 secondary or a second campus of Rolleston College. A second campus could be separated by geography, age, or some other criteria.
The findings from the first round engagement last year indicated that there were two preferred options. Participants also indicated that there was further information that they wanted about those two options that could influence their preferences. The first of the preferred options was a new independent state secondary school. Participants indicated that their preference for this option would be influenced by the site location and the school’s enrolment zone.
The second preferred option was a second campus of Rolleston College separated by student age. Participants indicated that their preference for this option would be influenced by what teaching and learning would look like in a second campus model.
This second stage in the engagement process provides you with additional information on these aspects so that you may give informed feedback about the two options:
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A new independent state year 9 – 13 secondary school with its own enrolment zone
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A second campus of Rolleston College, separated by age
We welcome feedback on the options above and the reasoning behind your preference. Please read the additional information below before providing feedback. You can provide feedback by completing an online survey which will be available until the 12th of March and can be found at:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RollestonSecondary
There will be 3 public meetings to gather feedback and answer questions. The times of these are:
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Monday March 1st, 7 – 8pm, Rolleston Rugby Football Club
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Wednesday March 3rd, 7 – 8pm, West Melton Community Centre
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Thursday March 4th, 7 – 8pm, Rolleston Rugby Football Club
These meetings will cover the same material so you may attend whichever best suits your schedule. If you have feedback you would like to give but are unable to attend one of these meetings, the survey will offer you the opportunity to comment freely.
The feedback you provide in the online survey and at community evenings will be instrumental in determining the community’s preferred option for future secondary education provision. The feedback will be summarised into a report which will be given to the Ministry of Education.
If you have any questions regarding the process, please do not hesitate to e-mail gabrielle@dandgconsulting.co.nz
Additional information
Additional information on each of the two options is included below, and these points may influence your thinking and preference prior to completing the survey or attending the meetings.
A new independent state year 9 – 13 secondary school with its own enrolment zone
This option would involve the creation of a new independent state secondary school in the southern Rolleston area. It would have its own identity, governance, uniform etc.
Currently, it is too early to know specific details of what this school would look like and how it would operate, and all these features would be informed by the community down the line.
This new independent state secondary school would have its own enrolment scheme home zone and the current Rolleston College home zone would be adjusted to allow for this. Students living in the home zone of the new school would have access to that school, and students living in the home zone of Rolleston College would continue to have access to Rolleston College. It is likely that neither school would take out-of-zone students, as is current practice in the Rolleston area.
Students attending Rolleston College who are living in the area that becomes part of the new school’s home zone would continue to be able to attend Rolleston College. Also, ‘grandparenting’ provisions may apply which ensures that if an address becomes out of zone of Rolleston College due to a reduction in the size of its zone, the address will continue to be considered ‘in-zone’ for as long as it contains children who are younger siblings of current students.
The maps below details how Rolleston College and the new independent state secondary school home zones could be configured. The Rolleston College home zone is shown in green and the potential home zone for the new secondary school is shown in blue with a dotted line. The purple circle shows an approximate area where the school will be located. This area is just over 2km from the Rolleston College site.
These potential zones would result in a July 2020 local Year 9 – 13 state school demand of 1,383 for Rolleston College and 230 in the new independent state secondary school. The new school is expected to be ready by 2025. The southern area encompassed in the new secondary school zone is expected to experience rapid growth due to residential growth and the movement of large cohorts into secondary year levels. This will see the local demand increase to over 500 by the year 2025 when the school is projected to open.
In the first stage of the enrolment process, zoning was an important consideration for several participants, and participants indicated the potential zone may affect their preferences around a new independent school. The survey will provide you with the opportunity to comment on the proposed zones shown in the maps above.
A second campus of Rolleston College, separated by age
This option means that Rolleston College would have a second campus. One of the two campuses would be a junior campus and the other would be a senior campus. The campuses would be designed to cater to the needs of different ages and stages of students in the wider Rolleston area. The senior campus would likely be designed with further senior specialist facilities and quiet study zones. Whānau group links would be retained across campuses. Flexible timetables would allow for strong connections between campuses and also allow for older siblings to assist younger siblings in getting to school. A senior campus could also allow for stronger tertiary education and local business partnerships.
The first stage in this engagement process showed a preference for these campuses to be year 9 – 10 and year 11 – 13, with participants suggesting the senior campus have an NCEA specialisation. This option was preferred by two thirds of the participants in the first engagement.
Another potential split is year 9 - 11 and year 12 - 13 as there are significant national changes occurring to NCEA. Rolleston College believes that this age split could better align with these changes. This could also give year 11 students leadership opportunities as the most senior students on the junior campus.
In this option, the zone for Rolleston College would remain as it currently is without needing to be changed. The new campus would be located in the same location as a new independent state secondary school (indicated by the purple circle in the above map).
Participants in the first stage of the engagement process were interested to understand more about how teaching and learning could operate in a two-campus model. Rolleston College has prepared the short video below to clarify some of these wonderings so that you have a greater understanding of how two campuses of Rolleston College could operate.
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For further information about Rolleston College, visit the school website at www.rollestoncollege.nz