The Parish of Christ the Redeemer is made up of four historic Catholic communities who have come together to form a new parish in the North of Christchurch. The parish includes four Catholic primary schools and two Catholic secondary schools.

At this point in time the mass centre and parish offices are located at St Gregory's Church on Cotswold Ave, Bishopdale.

For more information about the Catholic Parish of Christ the Redeemer, please click on this link.- www.christchurchnorth.org.nz

Building Towards our Future

At the end of 2023, the parish received news from Bishop Michael that it could restart the “Building Towards our Future” project. At the start of 2024 the Parish Building Committee reconnected with the architecture firm Ignite Architects to commenced the initial work of looking at the site and develop a Master Plan for the site, to look at how this site could be developed which meets the needs of our Parish now and into the future. The Master Plan has now been shared with the community. A copy of the Master Plan is attached to this article.

Both the School Board and Parish Building Committee believe this is an opportunity to develop a plan that would effectively service the school and parish for decades to come. The Building Committee believe they have achieved a plan that links both entities together but also allows each to operate without disrupting the other. There are many benefits the plan provides,

• It allows the sharing of facilities

• It provides the school with a large entrance

• It provides the school with a flow from the front to rear of the property

• The Parish parking facilities will provide additional space for parents and caregivers to pick up and drop children off closer to the school

• We will have a church that the whole school can fit in

You will notice that the Master Plan requires several school buildings to be demolished. The buildings initially designated for demolition include the Clare and Atawahi classroom blocks. A little further down the track the school hall and library will be demolished.

Attached to this article is a School Property Vision. The School Property Vision is synergised with the Parish Master Plan. The School Property Vision indicates the location where the new classrooms could be rebuilt in the future. The plan also shows the location of a new hall that will fit the whole school as well as the location of a seated lunch area and relocation of the senior playground.

The school has already begun the journey of realising its property vision. Step one was the renovation of the Timoney and Ashby Classrooms. Step two was the renovation of the Cremin and Kealy Classrooms. Step Three was the installation of new basketball and netball courts.

Our next step includes the relocation of the senior playground and the construction of a shaded outdoor seated area. We also look forward to working with the Diocese to construction of a new four-classroom block.

Fundraising for the relocation of the senior playground and construction of the shaded outdoor seated area has already begun. A huge thanks to the PTA and the Golf Tournament Committee for the work they are doing to help realise this vision.