90 | New QT primary school ready to roll T T Virginia Wright The full name of the new primary school is Te Kura Whakatipu o Kawarau but it’s more familiarly called Te Kura Kawarau. COMMUNITY Te Kura Whakatipu o Kawarau It was late 2019 when Gigi Hollyer was approached to be Chair of the Establishment Board for a new primary school soon to be built to accommodate Queenstown’s growing population. Gigi has spent eight years working in the New Zealand School Trustees Association providing governance training, and 12 years on school boards. She’s passionate about education, had experienced it from both sides thanks to her two teenage children, and had a broad network of relationships in the community. Four others brought their expertise to the board: ex-Mayor of Queenstown Vanessa van Uden, local lawyer Dale Lloyd, retired early childhood education manager Jude Soper, and retired special needs educationist Jude Grace-Dillon. The full name of the new primary school set to open its door at the start of the first term in 2022 is Te Kura Whakatipu o Kawarau but it’s more familiarly called Te Kura Kawarau. The school lies at the junction of three suburbs: the well-established Jacks Point, the newly built Hanley’s Farm, and the yet to be built Coneburn. The name was gifted to the school by the Oraka-Aparima Runanga for Ngai Tahu, the gift reflects both the strength and the aspirations of their ongoing relationship. The school name comes not from the river but from the maunga, Kawarau, home of the Remarkables ski-field, below which the school is situated. Gigi already knew local kaumatua and liaison Darren Rewi having taught his children 20 years previously at Wakatipu High, and he was pivotal in the work that was done with the iwi. T T to page 92 RESIDENTIAL DESIGN | COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES | SUBDIVISIONS kamomarsh.co.nz
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