CONGRATULATIONS
Aranui High School is once again the top Canterbury school at the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare in Schools Competition for yet another year. Laurence Wiseman, Head of Drama, directed a 15 minute piece from King Lear, which was selected to go forward to the Sheilah Winn Shakespeare in Schools National Competition being held in Wellington over Queen's Birthday Weekend. Aranui High School was superbly represented by Shea Kokaua, Michael Robottom, Tasman Farrell, Isaac Wilkes, Elliot Salisbury and Levi Ryan.
Shea will also be representing Aranui internationally as he has been selected to be part of the National Youth Shakespeare group travelling in June to London to perform at The Globe Theatre, and to take part in a number of workshops.
ARANUI HIGH SCHOOL
PRE-ENROLMENT EVENTS
Wednesday, 30th May 2012
Open Day : 3.00 - 4.30pm
or
Open Night : 6.00 - 7.30pm
Principal's address will be followed by a tour of our
superb new facilities with opportunities to meet staff
and students
Contacts for further information:
www.aranui-high.school.nz
principal@aranui-high.school.nz
Phone (03) 388 7083
ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
In the wake of the Canterbury earthquakes, the Ministry of Education has commissioned a number of investigations of all state school buildings in greater Christchurch (Christchurch City, Waimakariri and Selwyn districts).
As part of these assessments, an IEP (Independent Engineering Procedure) has been undertaken on buildings at Aranui High School. This assessment, which largely relies on an examination of existing documentation relating to the buildings, has flagged potential issues with the school library, Pasifika room, and school canteen that require further investigation.
These largely relate to the age of the buildings and ground conditions.
The Ministry of Education has now commissioned a detailed engineering evaluation (DEE) on these three buildings, and all other buildings on the Aranui High School site – including the early childhood centre.
The DEE investigations are undertaken by a Chartered Professional Engineer and follow prescribed guidelines. DEE’s include a review of the building design, construction, and how it has performed in recent earthquakes.
They are complex and unlike the triage checks made immediately after the earthquakes. They involve a site visit and geotechnical investigation and will take four to six weeks to complete.
While there are no immediate safety concerns for students and staff, as a precautionary measure, the Board of Trustees in consultation with the Ministry of Education has decided to restrict access to the library, Pasifika room and school canteen while these more detailed investigations are undertaken.
The library will therefore be re-established in the Atrium in the technological block. The Pasifika room will be relocated to a spare classroom, and the canteen will relocate to the Performing Arts kitchen.
Should the detailed engineering evaluations confirm any school building is a risk to safety the Ministry of Education will act with urgency to isolate the building and work with the Board of Trustees around repairs and strengthening.
As a rule the Ministry considers any building that does not meet the 33% of new building standards required under the Building Act which also has an identified critical structure weakness should be isolated. (Critical Structural Weakness is a specific engineering term).
We should reiterate the decision to restrict access to the Library, Pasifika room and canteen, is a precautionary measure, not an indication of any real risk. But because the safety of staff and students is our first priority, we have decided to err on the side of caution under further information is available.
Ministry of Education
Christchurch
Aranui High School is a place of respect,
focused on providing a quality education for the young people of its community.
Aranui's Values
Excellence
Respect
Community
Mana
Manaakitanga (Caring)
Principal's Message
Kia ora, talofa lava and greetings!
Welcome to the Aranui High School website. This year we will be developing a new school website and we are looking forward to being able to unveil this during term 1. We hope that the new website will impress you as we seek to use it as a vehicle to reach out beyond our school boundaries to our local community and families, to our country and further afield. It is our keenest desire to be able to share with our viewers, not only essential information about the day to day life of the school, but also the highlights of our school life and our vision for its future.
2012 will be another year of challenge as the school moves forward into a new and exciting future. We would like to be able to keep you as fully informed of developments at Aranui High School after such a difficult year in 2011. We are currently in the process of completing some interim landscaping work, which the Ministry of Education has agreed to have completed. This will enormously improve the visual appeal of the school and provide a much more pleasant environment for staff and students alike.
John Rohs