St Mary’s Ponsonby has received funding from the Ministry of Education to increase its roll by 200. The maximum roll will now be 1000 pupils.
Principal Sandy Pasley said it was good news for the community and some of the 100 kids on their usual annual waiting list. She said the Catholic school for girls, which accommodates year 7-13 students and charges compulsory attendance fees of $726 a year, has soared in popularity over recent years. The area used to be once full of the elderly but had become so popular with young families that the student population was skyrocketing.
An extra 30,000 children are predicted to turn up in Auckland primary, intermediate and high school classrooms over the coming decade. A new Education Ministry report, on the Western Bays area in Auckland, foreshadows the issue and the Government is working on how to accommodate the kids.
Source
New Zealand Herald