2019 School Rebuild Update

Freemans Bay School is one of the oldest schools in the New Zealand. Established in 1888, it is part of the Auckland City, Western Bays network that is expected to have long term population growth.

Between 2015 – 2018, Freemans Bay School was rebuilt to be the innovative learning spaces that we see today. Over that time, most of the school buildings were demolished or removed to enable these to allow space for the new buildings which included a library, hall, administration block, ESOL classroom and new learning. RTA Studio, the architects for the project,  outlined their designs in 2015 in the presentation HERE. The time lapse videos below show the progress of our building projects, which has seen our school totally remodelled.

“Freemans Bay School is designed to create a fresh new centre of modern learning which looks to the future whilst encouraging close ties with the community. It provides advanced ‘innovative learning environments’ (80-90 pupils per ‘classroom’ in open-plan spaces), offering a variety of well-connected learning spaces augmented by the use of new building materials and technologies. Flexible teaching spaces allow for a variety of pedagogical practice, as well as a multitude of disciplines.” RTA Studios

Projects in 2018 included reinstating the school field and bike track, upgrading the grounds and gardens and completing the upgrade of the school hard courts.  Sandy, the former Principal who led the school rebuild project, reflected on the process in her blog post – Rebuilding our School: Reflections.

In 2019 we commenced the design process for building our next learning spaces. Six classrooms have been approved as a response to roll growth with more families predicted to move into CBD for whom we will be the closest primary school. Construction of this building is expected to begin in mid-2020.

Meanwhile we are really enjoying our wonderful facilities which align our school vision of Engage, Enrich and Empower with facilities that support our future focused learning.

Let’s Celebrate – Kia Whakanuia

On the 9^th of March, we invited the school community to celebrate the completion of build project and thank them for their support over the past 10 years. It was an opportunity for many community members to return to the classroom and see for themselves what Future-Focused, Innovative learning spaces look like today. Our students enjoyed showcasing their learning and talking about what learning is like for them in these new learning spaces