Hato Petera students doing a home make over on their hostel

Tuesday, August 25th, 2015

The students at Hato Petera College are taking things into their own hands in an effort to ensure their hostel remains a going concern.

The Ministry of Education doesn’t have oversight of school hostels, but it is responsible for their licensing and in extreme circumstances they can revoke them.

The ministry has expressed concerns about the hostel, particularly its maintenance and structural soundness.

Spokeswoman Katrina Casey says they have been working with the trust board to address these concerns.

Some targets have been met but Hato Petera students want to pick up the pace and they have taken the repair job into their own hands.

“We want to show that we’re better than the adults because the adults have proven to us they can’t really do a good job, so the students have really taken it on board to build it from the ground up,” says student leader Jack McKee.

With the help of past and present students and the local community, piece-by-piece they are peeling back the old and bringing in a fresh look and feel.

An independent provider was sent to the college by the ministry to assess its progress addressing identified maintenance areas.

A report on the August 18 assessment is due this week.

Casey says the trust has been given until December to complete the remainder of the repairs and they have also been asked to address staffing, security and student supervision concerns.

Hato Petera students believe there would be serious consequences for some of them if the hostel were to close.

Their message to school management and the Ministry of Education is simple: “Help our Maori students achieve with excellence and get them to university.”

“And this school can get us there, so we can be like Lance O’Sullivan,” says Hato Petera College head girl Tayla-Rose Campbell.

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