Wanaka Primary School (WPS) has begun consulting with its school community on the prospect of retaining Year 7 and 8 students within the primary school (‘recapitation’), following requests from some parents to consider the issue, and against the advice of the Ministry of Education.

WPS board of trustees chair Andrew Howard told the Wanaka App the board was initially approached last September by two parents representing a group of parents wanting the school to investigate recapitation.

“After talking with other schools we felt there was likely to be an interest in this issue so we let the ministry know and informed them that we would survey our community to see if there was widespread interest,” Andrew said. 

The board asked the parents to respond to the statement 'I would like to see year 7 and 8 students at Wanaka Primary’ - to which 85 per cent responded ‘yes’; and ‘Are you interested in finding out more about this issue?’, to which 75 per cent responded ‘yes’.

The WPS will now hold two information and question sessions on the issue, facilitated by Andrew, on Monday June 14 and Tuesday June 15.

WPS BOT chair Andrew Howard said the conversation about Year 7-8 students staying at primary school “has to start somewhere”.

“The ministry did not believe we should be talking to our community about this but the board felt strongly that we should not ignore our parents and we should work to understand their aspirations for education in our region,” Andrew said. 

Some primary schools teach up to Year 8, which is currently the situation in Queenstown and Alexandra. Holy Family Catholic School is the only Upper Clutha primary school with Year 7 and 8 students.

Andrew said the considerations around recapitation include primary schools having the physical capacity, the implications for Mount Aspiring College (which takes Year 7-13 students), and what is best for children’s development.

The issue is a “big, complicated” one which ultimately needs to be addressed by the Ministry of Education as the provider of education infrastructure, he said.

“The conversation has to start somewhere though and I am glad that our board had the courage to start this and the ministry is now fully aware of our community's opinion on the matter,” Andrew said.

“I look forward to this being a part of all future discussions with the ministry as our district continues to grow. While we disagree with the ministry on this issue I would like to say that they have been doing some great work in addressing our considerable growing pains in this district and I am very confident that our future education infrastructure plans will be met with their planning framework.”

Ministry of Education sector enablement and support deputy secretary Katrina Casey said the ministry currently has no plans to consider changing state primary schools to retain Year 7 and 8 students. 

“All year 7 and 8 students are able to enrol at Mount Aspiring College, which is currently being expanded to allow for growth in the area,” she said.

In order for any change to occur there will need to be “whole of community engagement”, she said, adding the ministry has advised against WPS’s consultation “as any community discussion initiated by the board will not constitute consultation in terms of a formal change, and no formal process is underway”.

Katrina said the decision to change the classification of a school (in this case from a Year 1-6 to a Year 1-8 primary) is a decision for the Minister of Education to make. Prior to any decisions, the Ministry of Education would consult with school boards on behalf of the minister. 

The WPS consultation meetings will be held on the afternoon of Monday June 14 (3:15-4:30pm) and the evening of June 15 (7-8pm).

PHOTOS: Supplied