Growth may lead to Sawyers Bay enrolment zone

Sawyers Bay School's roll is nearing capacity, prompting its board of trustees to investigate the implementation of an enrolment zone.

Principal Gareth Swete said there were 141 pupils at the school at present, and the school only had capacity for 149 pupils.

He said the population of Sawyers Bay was growing, and the school's roll had continued to increase during the past five years.

If the school wanted the Ministry of Education to provide more classroom space, it would have to put an enrolment zone in place, he said.

The move was designed to make sure the school was not taking large numbers of pupils from outside the school's immediate area and expanding at the cost of other nearby schools.

Sawyers Bay School pupils show how large their school has grown during the past five years. Photo: Gregor Richardson
Sawyers Bay School pupils show how large their school has grown during the past five years. Photo: Gregor Richardson

''The ministry has required us to do this because we are currently at 95% of our property capacity.

''The majority of our children are from the West Harbour area.

''We just need to be a wee bit forward-thinking, knowing that we don't anticipate getting any smaller.''

He said the board of trustees was part way through consultation, and the ministry was supporting the board by creating a geographical map of the proposed zone.

He assured parents of present pupils they would not be affected by the scheme.

''Any families that are currently in the school community will remain, as well as siblings.''

He believed the population of Sawyers Bay was growing because people were ''clicking on'' to its rural charms and that it was not as far from Dunedin as some people thought.

''It's a pretty amazing place to live out here.

''We believe that we've got a good community-based school, and for us it's all about community.

''So if we're meeting the needs of our community, we're achieving our goal.''

He said the school appreciated that parents had a choice to find the right school for their children.

''And if that happens to be us, then we'll do our very best to cater for them.''

john.lewis@odt.co.nz

 

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