School renovation and mural

School renovation and mural

Clyde Quay School is in line for a spruce up in 2024, with a new street-facing mural planned, as well as a major playground and hall renovation.

The front of the school on Elizabeth Street has seen better days, with only two panels of its wall mural now left.

Principal Liz Patara says the great thing about the mural by Michael Mulheron, completed in 2004, was that ‘every child could see themselves’.

“It’s amazing it has lasted so long,” she comments.

It’s now time for a new one, which is now possible thanks to a successful creative grant funding application. 

Te Atiawa artist Ben Buchanan will start work early in the New Year, and like the last mural, it will be a collaborative exercise with input sought from students, staff and further afield.

Liz Patara (Ngati Whakaue, Ngati Uenukukopako) says the theme is ‘dreamscape’.

“We will want to garner the community’s vision for Mount Victoria.”

Meanwhile, plans for a major reconfiguration of the school playground are also afoot, driven by the need to improve the watertightness of the pre-fab classroom block and the school hall, as well as make the most of available space.

Architects from Studio Pacific have worked with the children and the staff to understand what kind of spaces the students want, and although the ambitious aspirations of the children for a massive slide from the pre-school to the playground may not be realised, Liz Patara is excited about what the change will bring.

“I think you‘ll agree our playground is pretty old and tired.”

The existing hall will be re-located parallel to northern retainer wall, which will create more usable play space in the constrained school area.

The hall will be renovated to make it ‘fit for purpose’.  A new entrance (similar to the front of a wharenui) with new pou and interior panels will reflect not only the Te Atiawa whakapapa of the school but also the very diverse community at the school.

Mana Whenua artist Pokau Te Ahuru (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Ātiawa, Ngāruahinerangi) has been commissioned to undertake the artwork around the entrance and some of the interior.  He was responsible for the stunning designs and panels on the refurbished Strathmore Community Centre, completed in 2023.

Liz Patara said the overall project has been supported by a ‘huge’ fundraising effort.

This was also acknowledged in a school newsletter by Board of Trustees member Michelle Little who thanked the school’s fundraising group Whanau and Friends for its work raising money to support the renovation, particularly parent Phernne Tancock, who made 20 funding applications, and was successful with at least six.

The upgrade will start around July.  Once the hall is complete, students from the pre-fab classrooms will move into the hall temporarily so weathertightness improvements on their classroom block can take place.

The upgrade will cause some disruption but the principal believes the disruption will be worth it in the end to get a fresh new playground, hall, and weathertight classrooms: ‘no pain without gain.’