Merging and Closing of Schools

Permanent and temporary closures and mergers post-quakes.

Rebecca Harris

Permanent Mergers/Closures:

In September 2012, The Ministry of Education proposed the closure or merger of approximately 38 of Christchurch’s most affected schools. 13 were to close, 18 to merge, and 7 to be relocated entirely. This interactive map The Press released showcases the affected schools and what the Ministry proposed to do with them. Many schools were deeply upset by this announcement, because the Ministry of Education allegedly did not consult any of the schools properly before announcing proposals of which schools to close and merge.

Schools that were permanently merged:

  • Shirley Boys High School and Avonside Girls High School - One of the Ministry of Education's initial proposals was to merge the single-sex schools Shirley Boys High School and Christchurch Boys High School, along with merging Christchurch Girls High School and Avonside Girls High School. This was criticised for taking yet more schools away from the heavily affected eastern suburbs. The proposed merger of Shirley and Christchurch Boys’ High Schools in particular was deeply unpopular – as many pointed out the schools had a long-standing rivalry that might make the combination impossible. Instead, in 2015, Shirley Boys High School and Avonside Girls High School were relocated to a permanent shared campus.
  • Phillipstown School and Woolston School - Phillipstown School and Woolston School were notably vocal against the closure and merger of their schools, with Phillipstown School taking the Ministry all the way to the High Court. In 2014, the judge postponed the closure of their school, calling it “unlawful”. However, in 2015, the merger went through, and Phillipstown and Woolston Schools became Te Waka Unua School.
  • New Brighton primary schools - The Ministry of Education proposed that North New Brighton School merge with Freeville School, and Central New Brighton School merge with South New Brighton School. Central and South New Brighton both resisted the proposed merger, and the Minister of Education reconsidered the proposal. By 2013, the plans changed so that South New Brighton would remain open, and North New Brighton, Central New Brighton, and Freeville Schools were to merge instead.
  • Unlimited and Discovery One - Unlimited and Discovery One, which were a special character secondary and primary school respectively in the centre of town, merged in 2014. This video from 2013 shows Unlimited’s co-directors confirming the merger with excitement. Their new building opened in town in 2019, as Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery on St Asaph Street.
  • Burwood Primary School and Windsor School - Burwood Primary and Windsor School were also excited for their merger. This article from The Press on 30 December 2013 describes the schools’ excited attitudes, especially from Windsor’s principal. The schools would merge into Waitakiri School. They retained both school sites, splitting years 1-3 and 4-6, but they would later consolidate onto the old Windsor campus completely in 2016.

Some schools, namely intermediate schools, were closed and their attendees sent elsewhere, dispersed into other ‘learning clusters’.

An infographic from The Press. White text in blue boxes on a white background. It reads: "Manning Intermediate. Status: Close. Cost: $5.1 Million."

Credit: The Press, Fairfax Media New Zealand. Source: https://www.ceismic.org.nz/search/39860704/

  • Schools in Aranui - One of the most drastic mergers was Haeata Community Campus, which merged Aranui High School, Aranui Primary School, and Avondale Primary School together into one super-school that opened in 2017. Originally, the Ministry of Education had proposed that 5 schools (including Chisnallwood Intermediate) be included in this merger. However, Chisnallwood Intermediate remains one of the few schools that successfully resisted merging or closure and is still open to this day.

Temporary Mergers:

There were some schools that shared grounds while their campuses were being rebuilt. East-side schools typically merged with schools on the west/less damaged side of town. This often involved a ‘split’ school day, where one school would use the campus in the morning, the other school in the afternoon.

Schools that temporarily shared their campuses:

  • Linwood College went to Cashmere High School.
Students from both Cashmere High School and Linwood College gathered around the entrance gate of Cashmere High School. Behind them is a sign that reads "Cashmere High School welcomes Linwood College." The sign has both of their logos on it.

Co-Location of Secondary Schools in Christchurch Post 22 February 2011 Earthquake Photograph 1. Cashmere High School welcoming Linwood College.

  • Avonside Girls High School went to Burnside High School.
Burnside High School's front gate. Tied to the wall further down is a temporary red and green sign reading "Avonside Girls High School." It has Avonside Girls' logo on it.

BeckerFraserPhotos April 2011 photograph 490.  Captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos: “Many schools in Christchurch were closed and so those that were available shared. Here Burnside High School shared facilities with Avonside Girls High School. Greers Road.”

  • Marian College went to St Bede's College.
Three St Bede's boys in uniform standing beside the welcome sign at their school. The sign is split top-and-bottom into two sections. The top section is black, reads "St Bede's College Office" with their school logo and an arrow pointing to the right. The bottom half is blue, and reads "Marian College Office" with their school logo and an arrow pointing to the left.

‘Co-Location of Secondary Schools in Christchurch Post 22 February 2011 Earthquake Photograph 2’. 31 Jan 2012. Captioned: “A photograph of students of St Bede's College standing at the entrance to the school. A sign directs visitors to the St Bede's College Office and the Marian College Office.”

Later, in 2012, Marian College moved to share Catholic Cathedral College's campus. They stayed there until 2023, before finally moving to their own permanent campus on Lydia Street in 2024.

While photos of these mergers can’t be found on CEISMIC, the book chapter Christchurch: The Transitional City Pt IV, pages 282-283: Co-Location of Secondary Schools in Christchurch mentions that Shirley Boys High School went to Papanui High School, and Christchurch Cathedral College went to St Thomas’.

Primary school temporary mergers

Some primary schools also had to share grounds during this time, but finding documentation within CEISMIC of who went where is not as clear as the secondary schools. This newspaper article discusses how The Cathedral Grammar School split between “Selwyn House, Halkett School, and ... a house in Yaldhurst”. This article also mentions St Mary’s and St Paul’s Schools being “expected to begin site-sharing next week”, though it does not say where they went.

Resources:

Image Searches:

The search “Media, Communications and Journalism AND school” with the image filter shows many relevant infographics or headlines from newspapers at the time, including the blue-and-white ‘status of schools’ graphics.

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