Dear Parents and Caregivers

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

Currently the Christchurch City Council is consulting the community about a proposal to sell the old QEII site of approximately 11.5 hectares of land in the southeast corner of Queen Elizabeth II Park to the Ministry of Education. This will enable Avonside Girls’ and Shirley Boys’ to be rebuilt there. This location is the preferred site for the two schools because of the size of the available land, its accessibility to transport, its future flexibility and the potential for community partnerships.

The benefit for the two schools arises from their close proximity and the opportunities that co-location would create. In addition, operating alongside the Eastern Recreation and Sports Centre would also allow for further benefits through the creation of additional shared community space.

Building the new schools

In December, it was announced that the rebuilding and co-location of the schools would be delivered through a Public Private Partnership (PPP). This partnership will design, construct, finance and manage the new facilities and enable them to be open ahead of Term One of the 2019 academic year.

Over the past few months our schools have been working closely together to develop our vision for two new co-located schools, the facilities of which will enable collaboration and maximise learning opportunities while ensuring the independent and distinct character of the two single sex schools.

On Wednesday 3 February and Thursday 11 February and again on the 2 March, we, alongside members of our Board of Trustees, met with the Ministry of Education to discuss our vision and the process of delivering the new schools through the PPP.  School and Board representatives will be working closely with the Ministry team over the next few months to further develop and capture our vision and requirements for our new schools.

These discussions will also involve the Christchurch City Council to ensure that opportunities to benefit the school and community through the development of the proposed Eastern Pools and Recreation Centre, which is to be delivered to similar timescales, are explored and enabled where appropriate.

The Ministry Team outlined the procurement process for the PPP and how we will work closely together. They reiterated their commitment to supporting our schools through this process and into our new facilities as well as their ongoing support while we remain on our current sites.

The next major milestone for the project will be the invitation of Expressions of Interest (EOI) from consortia who are keen on taking on this massive project for the Ministry of Education and indeed, for the whole of Eastern Christchurch. This will lead to the shortlisting of up to three consortia who will then be required to develop proposals for the construction and operation of our new schools. Following evaluation and selection of a preferred provider, construction is expected to start in 2017.

We will keep you updated regularly with the progress of the project and have plans to hold a meeting for parents to enable you to have your questions answered. In the meantime if you have any queries or concerns in regard to the project, please contact me directly.

Clearly, both School Boards are excited by the opportunities that arise from the rebuild in the new location and therefore they urge you to support the schools by making a submission to the Christchurch City Council in which you support the sale of land to The Ministry of Education:

Making your submission:

Please submit your views by midnight on Sunday 3 April.

• To submit online 
  
• To submit by email 
  
• To submit in writing, either using the printed submission form or in any other written form, post to:
  

Freepost 178 (no stamp required)
QEII Park Land Sale Consultation
Christchurch City Council
PO Box 73017
Christchurch 8146

Finally, to reiterate, 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.

Regards

John Laurenson