Ministry chooses preferred bidder for building project

Ministry chooses preferred bidder for major schools building project

The Ministry of Education has chosen Future Schools Partners as the preferred bidder for a public private partnership (PPP) to build four schools.

The Ministry has entered into final contractual negotiations with Future Schools Partners, and if successful, the consortium will design, finance and construct the schools, as well as maintaining them for 25 years.

Ministry Education Infrastructure Service head, Kim Shannon, says the land and buildings will be owned by the Ministry and all educational services will be the responsibility of school principals and boards of trustees.

“We have been working closely with the Establishment Boards of Trustees of all four schools over the last six months, and they have had considerable input to the future shapes of their schools,” she says.

Ms Shannon says three of the schools will be new – Ormiston Junior College (Auckland), Aranui Community Campus and Rolleston Secondary School (both in Greater Christchurch). One replaces an existing school which will be built in a new location – Wakatipu High School (Queenstown).

“We’ve already had new schools open in 2013 and 2014 under the first PPP.

“PPPs offer an excellent alternative to what we’ve traditionally done because these contractors also think about how the buildings will be maintained. Having a professional facilities manager also removes the maintenance from school leaders so they can focus on student achievement.

“This has already been the case with Hobsonville Point Primary School and Hobsonville Point Secondary School. The designs of these schools have been extremely popular with students, teachers and the school community. They were also delivered on time and for a lower cost than could have been achieved using a traditional procurement method.

“I’m confident Future Schools Partners will also create world class modern learning environments for all four of these schools.”

The three new schools are scheduled to open in 2017 and Wakatipu High School is due to open at the beginning of 2018.

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