Copyright farmersweekly
Reading Time: 3 minutes By David Hill for LDR North Canterbury’s largest secondary school says it is well-placed to offer vocational pathways. But Rangiora High School board of trustees presiding member Simon Green fears other schools may not have the resources to offer the same opportunities. The Government is placing a greater emphasis on vocational pathways, including the trades and land-based subjects, such as agriculture and horticulture, as part of an overhaul of secondary education. At the same time, other subjects like art history could be phased out. Green said the school is well placed to meet the need, having a small farm across the road and a purpose built building classroom which opened last year and was fully funded by the board at a cost of more than $200,000. ‘‘Schools don’t normally have that sort of money sitting around.’’ He said the school is in a strong financial position, thanks to the proceeds of selling around half of the farm (around 20ha) nearly 20 years ago for a housing development and the sale of other school property. Principal Bruce Kearney said while many city schools tended to focus on making sure students achieved university entrance, Rangiora has long had a wider focus. ‘‘We are the only (secondary) school in a our community so we have to provide for everyone. We don’t have another four or five schools in close proximity. ‘‘The difference between an urban and a semi-rural school is half our students come to school by bus.‘‘Our trades courses are highly focused on year 11 and 12, because many of those students shift into apprenticeships or Ara instead of doing year 13.’’ The school received a backlash on social media two years ago when it announced year 9 / 10 building classes could be dropped due to a lack of space. ‘‘The hard materials area was under pressure and there weren’t enough classrooms to meet the demand from our students, so that’s when the board took it on,’’ Kearney said. The school also offers mechanical engineering and soft materials, while an automotive class was offered in partnership with Avon City Ford in Christchurch until two years ago. It is investigating whether to bring back the automotive class, Kearney said. ‘‘One of the challenges is finding someone with the expertise to teach it. We have a 1970s Landrover in the shed waiting to be restored.’’ Next year’s year 11/12 building class will be working on tiny homes, in a bid to give them ‘real life’ experiences.While the school has built up reserves from property sales, Green and Kearney have no plans to sell anything else – the farm is definitely not for sale. ‘‘Once it’s sold, it’s gone forever and the cash will get burned in time,’’ Kearney said. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
