And finally.....the rebuild has come to an end.

The refurbishment of Rooms 12 & 13 is coming along nicely and should be completed over the next few weeks.

The refurbishment of Rooms 12 & 13 is coming along nicely and will possibly be completed by the end of the term break.

The refurbishment of Rooms 12 & 13 is coming along nicely.

Over the holidays we have had some line marking done around the school.

We are nearly finished with our total rebuild. We now have access to our hall. However at the end of term 1 the MOE informed the school that they would like to refurbish rooms 12 and 13 now known as Tūpou.

After Easter we will have the use of the school hall again and it is looking fantastic.

The work on the hall is coming along nicely and is not far off completion.

The work on the hall is coming along nicely.

Our central courtyard and new sports court are now complete.

Have a look at some pictures from inside the hall. It's got fresh paint, new windows, and the stage has been removed.

The map shows where school 'teams' (a grouping of two year groups) will be in 2021.

but by the end of Term 4 this area will host a new sports court for students.

Hann Construction is now working on a central courtyard for whole school gatherings.

Some of our Year 6 students agreed to pose for the newspaper story. Here's a sneak peek at the story that will appear in the paper, distributed on Thursday.

Rooms 5/6 have been demolished to make way for a new central courtyard where all the school can gather.

If your child is in Hub 2,3,5 or 6 they will be in a new space for Term 4, in the refurbished red brick blocks. Here's where to take them on the first day:

Over the term break Oaklands School has been a hive of activity!

Below is a map of our school with names for each building, so you know where your child will be for Term 4.

Over the term break Oaklands School has been a hive of activity!

In the next week the builders will install carpet tiles and finish the shade covers outside the red brick blocks.

The buildings that were part of the Ministry of Education-funded redevelopment will be complete at the end of Term 3.

From next term our students will all be in new or completely refurbished buildings.

Toy swaps, recycling education and rubbish-free lunch weeks are some of the ways our school is becoming more environmentally-friendly and working towards being rubbish-free.

The builders are preparing to put up a canopy for shade and pour concrete paths. Inside, plastering and painting continues.

Year 6s have been busy researching new furniture options for the Rurutu block that they will move into from Term 4. Rurutu is next to the Year 7/8 hub.

It's 8 weeks until our redevelopment ends and thought is being given to landscaping.

Inside the two blocks a steady pace is being maintained so they will be ready for students in Term 4.

By the end of Term 3 the total refurbishment of our two red brick blocks will be complete.

Once renovation of the red brick blocks is complete, new outside features such as a new half basketball can be added.

Work is underway on the last part of our redevelopment - transforming our original red brick blocks.

When the school re-opened, our builders Hann Construction got back on the job refurbishing the two long Canterbury brick blocks.

The long brick blocks have been gutted and by the end of Term 3 their refurbishment will be complete.

We have been gifted a new Māori name for our school, Te Kura Ōwaka, and names for each of the blocks in our school. We are grateful to Te Taumutu Rūnanga for these gifts.

Work is well underway to transform our two long brick blocks from the original school into modern learning spaces with the latest technology.

If you have seen a new face (topped off with a large leather hat) around school it is our new caretaker Sven Christensen.

And a new heat pump means the water is warm for all our swimmers.

The new administration block and flexible learning block/library are now ready to be moved into!

From next week we'll begin this exciting move that will involve lots of work for our office staff and others.

Our senior students are moving into their fantastic new space - complete with green room, refreshed kitchen and grandstand seating.

You might have noticed the outside of our former office has changed quite a lot recently.

The new block will contain our library and be a flexible learning space for students of all year groups.

A garden area is being developed behind the new junior block.

Our junior students have moved into a wonderful new expanded block and pupils have a new playground to use.

Our redevelopment is creating innovative learning environments as well as new and refurbished buildings and facilities.

To allow the new playground to be built during the school holidays, the existing one needs to be taken down. This will happen from the week commencing 9th September.

Yr 7/8 students have been involved in how their new hub will work, including suggestions for furniture, plants and how they will use the new green screen .

As buildings are completed in our redevelopment, they will get a paint job in a new colour scheme chosen by the Ministry of Education.

The junior block will be finished by the end of Term 3. It will be pretty exciting to have the first part of our redevelopment complete and move our youngest students into an expanded learning space.

Work is progressing well on turning the former administration area into a technology-packed hub for our Yr 7/8 students.

Work is progressing on the new administration block and striking new entrance to our school.

This will be a real milestone in our journey to a redeveloped school.

The cover of this week's Western News paper features the smiling faces of some of our students from a story about our planned new playground.

We can now clearly see the form of our three new buildings.

Students often love break times and the chance to get push their physical boundaries on play equipment. So it is fitting Oaklands School pupils played a key role in choosing features of our new playground.

The framing for a new classroom block where the junior playground once stood is now in place.

When new parts of the school will be finished and existing parts refurbished.

The former administration block is being transformed into a smart new learning space complete with kitchen for students to unleash their culinary creativity.

The bird’s eye view above shows the placement of buildings on the finished school site.

During the holidays Hann Construction dug trenches for our school’s new technology systems and to connect services for our new buildings.

Exciting times ahead.....

The past week has been an exciting time at Oaklands as we have started a number of construction projects.

11 March-This week we have had some further changes with the digging of the new foundation for our new classroom block and the removal of our umbrella's along rooms 7-9. These have been put in storage. We have also been advised that during the holiday break the contractors need full access to the school site as they will be replacing electrical fixtures and digging trenches for new data cables. Therefore there will be no access to the school during this time. We are very excited with the changes to our environment. The next step is the planning of the foundations for our new buildings. We are also replacing our junior playground with a new learning space in this space.

It is finally happening. This week the fences have gone up to isolate 5 buildings that will be demolished in the next month.

Our students in Room 22 and Room 23 are very excited as the Board of Trustees has funded new curtains in these rooms as part of the remodelling.

Work is progressing well on room 20 and 21. Our architect will be visiting the school next week to discuss colours as part of our rebuild programme.

Congratulations to our 2 year 1 classes with their new learning space. The new spaces are known as ILE -(Innovative Learning Spaces) This model is research-based and endeavours to improve learning opportunities and outcomes for students.

Today is an exciting day for Oaklands School as we open Room 22 & 23 as a Flexible learning space.

Education Minister Chris Hipkins joined Oaklands School to celebrate the start of their redevelopment and marked the milestone with a sod-turning ceremony. The redevelopment will include the construction of three new buildings including teaching and admin areas. The school hall and six buildings are also being refurbished and 11 of the existing school buildings will be demolished. The school will remain in full operation during this time, with the construction being staged to ensure minimal disruption for the students.

There was great excitement in the term break as the builders work on a number of projects.

We finally beginning our rebuild programme. This is a very exciting time for Oaklands School.

As part of our preparation for our rebuild we have had to move some year levels to different classroom areas.