Te Awamutu College has announced it will not accept students from outside its year-old zone – because it’s full.
Te Awamutu News 12 September 2024
Acting principal Wayne Carter said the school was predicting a roll of more than 1400 in 2025 – including significantly more year 13 students than usual
Wayne Carter
The news is not so good for families outside the school zone, but it is for Ōtorohanga College, which has a considerable smaller roll.
The college zone was introduced last year by the Ministry of Education and covers up to Ngāhinapōuri School in the north, down to Arohena School in the southeast and Ngutunui School in the west. The college offered a small number of places this year by ballot.
“We realise that this will be very disappointing for some families,” said Carter.
“However, when we developed our enrolment scheme, the Ministry of Education agreed that our capacity is 1400 students. We are predicting to start the year with 1455 students next year. Having a roll over 1400 puts pressure on rooming and staffing, so based on our current new enrolments and predictions, we simply don’t have space or capacity to offer spaces for out of zone enrolments.”
In a statement the school acknowledged the announcement would be a significant disappointment for some families.
“We have large cohorts at all levels next year,” Carter said. Usually, the numbers decline for Year 13 as some students move into employment, but next year, this cohort looks to be significantly larger than usual. This is, in part because they were our largest cohort on Year 9, so they will be our largest cohort for Year 13. This contributes to overall, more students being at school.”
The decision means siblings of existing pupils from outside of the zone will need to find a different school.
It was difficult to forecast 2026 roll number, Carter said. Economic situations play a part in pupils’ decisions about either continuing their schooling or seeking employment.
“Last year, when there was plenty of employment opportunities, our numbers in the senior school were slightly lower than now, because more chose the work option,” he said.
“In terms of future Year 9 enrolments, numbers will continue to be strong, based on contributing school data.”
Asked whether Te Awamutu needed another high school, Carter said the Ministry of Education would not consider it.
“There is available space at the college for more classrooms, which would increase capacity. Discussions have been had about this and extra classrooms are in scarce supply for growing schools in the current government spending cycle. However, the Ministry of Education only provides classrooms for in zone roll growth, not to cater for out of zone enrolments.”
Meanwhile, 30 minutes down the road south at Ōtorohanga College, the staff and board have been preparing for such a time as this.
Lyndsay Kurth
Board chair Duncan Coull said the situation had been anticipated for about 18 months and a lot of work had been put into the college’s facilities and curriculum.
“This is positive news for the college,” he said. “We welcome any students that wish to attend Ōtorohanga College, we have had a lifting roll for the last two years.”
Ōtorohanga College’s roll dropped from 367 in 2017 to 260 in 2023 and 340 this year.
School principal Lindsay Kurth told a recent Ōtorohanga District Council meeting how students were benefitting from the school’s use of $1.64 million from the first tranche of better-off funding.
Te Awamutu College is full.
Te Awamutu College gymnasium
