Dear Parents,

Greetings, tena koutou katoa, talofa lava.

This message is devoted to bringing you up to date with developments relating to the building of the new school at QEII.

The great news that ShapEd has been confirmed as the preferred builder of our new school and that announcement precipitated the following notice which was posted on our website:

Media release Friday 3 March 2017

Christchurch schools welcome progress on their new campus

Avonside Girls’ High School and Shirley Boys’ High School are welcoming today’s announcement that ShapED has been selected as the Ministry of Education’s preferred bidder on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) tender to design, construct and maintain six new schools across New Zealand – including their new schools.

ShapED is a consortium of businesses. It is led by a specialist infrastructure investment management firm Morrison & Co who also led the consortium that delivered the Haeata Community Campus in Christchurch, Rolleston College in Christchurch and Ormiston Junior College in Auckland.

John Laurenson, Headmaster of Shirley Boys’ High School and Sue Hume, Principal of Avonside Girls’ High School, are delighted.

“This is a milestone in our rebuilds and we’re fortunate to be partnering with such an experienced consortium to build the new schools on the QEII site,” says John Laurenson.

Sue Hume says the schools are looking forward to working with ShapED to finalise the design and making it a reality.

“Having companies with such vast experience both in New Zealand and overseas is a huge coup – it means we have the right people in place to create a cutting-edge modern campus for both schools. “Shape Ed also includes CPB Contractors and South Island-based Southbase Construction, equity providers Pacific Partnerships, one of New Zealand’s leading architectural practices ASC and facilities management Spotless Facility Services.

The schools will now work with the Ministry of Education and the consortium to complete the design for the new campus. The schools are expected to move to the new site in 2019, however there is still a lot of work to do and while this is a big step in the right direction there are many more to take on the journey to our new campus.

Finally just to reiterate the earlier point, I am very willing to answer questions on this process or on what the end result is going to look like for us, please don’t hesitate to contact me, or drop by for a chat. Tony Deavoll, Board Chairperson, Tim Grocott Associate Headmaster and I have spent considerable time getting plans for the new school underway and while we have some way to go before completion, I am happy to state that progress is sound and the end is in sight.

2016 NZQA Examination Results

Confirmed results are now available and we have done very well. Full details are available in The Statement of Variance, copy of which is available if contact is made with the school, but a summary of the results is included below:

2016 Results Roll Based Data

Literacy % Pass Year 11

                   SBHS                                                 NZ (Male + Female)                      Decile 4-7 ( Male + Female)

2016        95.2                                                                   91.2                                                                  92.0

Numeracy % Pass Year 11

                   SBHS                                                 NZ(Male + Female)                       Decile 4-7( Male + Female)

2016        98.0                                                                   89.9                                                                  91.0

2016  Roll Based Data

SBHS                                          Year 11 (level 1)                 Year 12 (level 2)                   Year 13 (level 3)

2016                                                       87.2                                         86.9                                             64.8

NZ                                                Year 11 (level 1)                 Year 12 (level 2)                   Year 13 (level 3)

2016                                                       74.2                                          77.0                                             63.4

NZ  Decile 4-7 Male

                                                        Year 11 (level 1)                 Year 12 (level 2)                   Year 13 (level 3)

2016                                                       74.0                                          77.0                                            57.1

Sporting Success

Well done to the senior volleyball team for their recent victory over Waimea College in Nelson in the South Island Volleyball Championships. They are now gearing themselves for National Competition at the end of this month in Palmerston North. Also preparing for national competition are the school rowers who will gather for Maadi Cup at Lake Ruataniwha at the end of this month.

We wish them the best of luck as they compete for national honours.

John Laurenson