Tereora College Redevelopment Project Release, 24 December 2020

Redevelopment planning for Tereora College is beginning to take shape and will be ready for public comment early in the New Year.  The shared vision is that the completed College will enable greater learning opportunities for Cook Islanders and become the benchmark for further secondary school developments in the country. Preliminary designs for the New Zealand funded Stage 1 buildings are expected to be complete by March 2016.

This introductory work follows on from New Zealand’s pledge by Prime Minister, the Rt Hon John Key of up to $11.7 million to complete Stage 1 of the College redevelopment. The pledge was made on August 4^th 2015 during the Cook Islands celebration of 50 years of independence in free association with New Zealand. Since then, the Grant Funding Arrangement (GFA) between governments was developed and signed.

At that signing ceremony on November 5^th,  New Zealand High Commissioner, His Excellency Nick Hurley, described the vision of this new infrastructure as one that will be ‘transformational and give a real boost to educational outcomes.’

In February 2016 the Cook Islands Government will present a draft 10-year Strategic Plan for the entire redevelopment to various stakeholders including past and current students, teachers, parents, and the community at large. Once consultation with these stakeholders has been completed, the plan will be used to inform the College’s infrastructure needs for the next 50 years. Full redevelopment of the College is currently estimated to cost $40 million.

Redevelopment of the College responds to demands for flexible learning environments, the high cost of maintaining the current buildings, deficiencies in site and services, evolving learning and teaching practises and the growth in student roll numbers. The new College is being designed to accommodate 750 students, 50 teachers and 10 support staff; draw on the heritage of the area; provide high quality, fit-for-purpose, and comfortable learning environments; and adapt to climate change.

A four-stage approach is being considered to complete the College reconstruction:

Stage 1	Technology and Student Centre	Administration, support services, library and student centre, technology centre.
Stage 2	Academic Learning	Languages and cultures, mathematics and statistics, sciences, social sciences and commerce.
Stage 3	Performing Arts Centre	Drama, dance, gallery, music and music history, visual arts, property supervisor workspace.
Stage 4	Future Developments	To be confirmed.

 

Detailed designs for Stage 1 will commence when the Strategic Plan and preliminary designs are finalised. The construction contract will be tendered in mid-2016. Stage 1 construction is scheduled to start in December 2016 and to be completed before the start of the 2018 academic year.

The project is led by the Cook Islands Investment Corporation, New Zealand High Commission, Ministry of Education, Tereora College, and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management. This redevelopment is the top education infrastructure priority in the Cook Islands.

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