An aerial photograph of Avonside Girls High School in Avonside.
An aerial photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Avonside Girls High School. Woodham Road left to right".
Students from Avonside Girls High School eating lunch outside their temporary library building, built since the earthquake. The photograph has been captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The new buildings are low and brightly painted in strong colours. The mood is similar to the Container Mall Re:Start, with bright colours, low ceilings, and a spacious layout".
Students at Christchurch's Shirley Boys High School were upbeat about their return today to their old school, for the first time since the February earthquake.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Avonside Girls High School. The crest was salvaged from the old block".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Students tossing a ball at Avonside Girls High School".
An aerial photograph of Avonside Girls High School.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The new staff room at Avonside Girls High School".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "A group of students eating lunch in front of a classroom at Avonside Girls High School".
This thesis examines the closing of Aranui High School in 2016, a low socio-economic secondary school in eastern Christchurch, New Zealand, and reflects on its history through the major themes of innovation and the impact of central government intervention. The history is explored through the leadership of the school principals, and the necessity for constant adaptation by staff to new ways of teaching and learning, driven by the need to accommodate a more varied student population – academically, behaviourally and culturally – than most other schools in wider Christchurch. Several extreme changes, following a neoliberal approach to education policies at a national government level, impacted severely on the school’s ability to thrive and even survive over the 57 years of its existence, with the final impact of the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes leading indirectly to Aranui High’s closure. The earthquakes provided the National government with the impetus to advocate for change to education in Christchurch; changes which impacted negatively on many schools in Christchurch, including Aranui High School. The announcement of the closure of Aranui High shocked many staff and students, who were devastated that the school would no longer exist. Aranui High School, Aranui Primary School, Wainoni Primary School and Avondale Primary School were all closed to make way for Haeata Community Campus, a year 1 to 13 school, which was built on the Aranui High site. Aranui High School served the communities of eastern Christchurch for 57 years from 1960 and deserves acknowledgment and remembrance, and my hope is that this thesis will provide a fair representation of the school’s story, including its successes and challenges, while also explaining the reasons behind the eventual closure. This thesis contributes to New Zealand public history and uses mixed research methods to examine Aranui High School’s role as a secondary school in eastern Christchurch. I argue that the closure of Aranui High School in 2016 was an unjustified act by the Ministry of Education.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Avonside Girls High School".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Burnside High School with the University of Canterbury (upper left)".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Some of the former buildings at Avonside Girls High School remain, as do the magnificent trees which make this site so attractive".
An aerial photograph of Christchurch Boys High School on Te Kura Street.
After years of disruption caused by the Christchurch earthquakes, two schools have finally started moving into their new state of the art facilities. Avonside Girls' High School and Shirley Boys' High School have begun moving students into their new shared but separate campus on the grounds of the old QEII Park in north New Brighton. Some of the features include, a moveable gym, bike stands with spanners and air pumps, and a rock climbing wall. It will be the first time in New Zealand two single-sex schools have been on the same site. Guyon Espiner speaks to Avonside Girls' High principal Sue Hume and Shirley Boys' High School principal John Laurenson.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti secondary school, High Street".
The new staff room at Avonside Girls High School with the new classrooms in the background. The photograph has been captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Avonside Girls High School staff room. We spoke to two Science teachers who talked enthusiastically about their new Science labs and how great it was to return to their own campus again".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "A group of students eating lunch in front of a classroom at Avonside Girls High School".
Old CHristchurch Girls' High School.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "40-46 Armagh Street, the now totally cleared site of the Cranmer Centre, formally the Christchurch Girls High School".
Student Volunteer Army members from Riccarton High School on a break from clearing liquefaction from Christchurch properties.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Stripping out the building at the Haldenstein's/Unlimited Paenga School site".
An aerial photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "High Street and Unlimited School (centre)".
File ref: CCL-2011-03-Operation-Storytime-dscf0465 From the collection of Christchurch City Libraries
A digital copy of a pen and ink and watercolour painting by Raymond Morris, titled, 'Old Christchurch Girls High School'.
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "View centered on Unlimited School, High/Cashel Streets intersection".
Photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "Material stripped out of the building at the Haldenstein's/Unlimited Paenga School site, High Street".
An aerial photograph looking north over Avonside. In the bottom centre of the photograph, Avonside Girls High School can be seen.
Mark Wilson is the Principle of Cashmere High School.
A video of an interview with Tony Simpson, Principal of Phillipstown School, about the High Court's ruling on the merger of Woolston School and Phillipstown School. The Ministry of Education planned to merge the schools after the 22 February 2011 earthquake. However, Justice John Fogarty declared that the Ministry's consultation process failed to meet the requirements of the Education Act in two respects and that the merger was unlawful. Simpson talks about the joy he felt on hearing the news, his disappointment that it came down to a High Court decision, and his plans for the school's future.