Our local community and the wider Northern Corridor is growing rapidly and schools in our area are having to cater for significant roll growth.  Newlands College will be undergoing significant property changes and developments over the coming years.  

The Phase 1 works started in 2021 with the old staffroom being demolished to make way for a larger staffroom to cater for more staff.  The new staffroom was completed at the end of 2022 and was opened with a blessing from Matua Joe McLeod.  The building is named Te Whare Hoe Waka, inspired by the whakataukī "He waka eke noa" (a canoe in which we are all in without exception). Te Whare Hoe Waka embodies the collective mahi (work) and spirit involved in supporting our rangatahi (young people) to navigate their ao (world) with agency (hinengaro), confidence (tū māia) and self-determination (mana motuhake). 

Many ancient hoe (paddles) included whakairo (carving) and waituhi (painting), often imbuing and denoting whakapapa, exemplifying the whakaaro (thinking) that we carry our ancestors’ whakapapa and wisdom with us on our life journey to strengthen and guide us through te moana pukepuke o te ao nei (the choppy seas of this world). 

The new building includes a purpose built guidance centre which houses our Year Level Deans, Head of Careers/Transition, Learning Support staff and Guidance Counsellors.  It is a fresh, open and inviting space for students.  

The next phases of work are currently in planning. The Ministry of Education, designers and the school are in collaboration with work being completed over the coming years.  The work will include new general and specialist space classrooms as well as a new library.  We currently have several relocatable classrooms on the school site to cater for our roll growth. 

We will continue to update this page as the design and plans for the new building are finalised.