We are fully delighted with our new junior teaching block which we started using at the beginning of term two. Our official opening was 18 June when our school and wider community came together to celebrate and give thanks for what God has done.
Background to the development
Twenty years ago, grandparents of students at our school, Ross and Catherine Pettigrew, purchased the first flat of the neighbouring property. The owner of the second flat, Mr Harlow, died at the age of 96 in 2008. Mr Harlow was a lovely neighbour to the school; he was often seen chatting to children over the fence and from the time of his 90th birthday, the whole school would gather below the fence and sing happy birthday to him. Mr Harlow said he hoped that one day his property would also be sold to the Pettigrews so the school would have the option of expanding one day. Once the Pettigrews owned both flats, they wrote to the school and offered to sell the flats when the time came for the school to expand.
This vision for the school was realised in 2018 with the purchase of the flats by the Dunedin Christian Schools Association, our proprietor.
This wonderful development has taken our school from four classrooms to six (we had been operating a fifth classroom for the last few years from our library). We are now able to grow the school if we can achieve a maximum roll cap increase from the Ministry of Education. We intend to apply for this in the next few months.
Ross and Catherine Pettigrew cut the official opening ribbon with three of their children who had attended Liberton Christian School and eight grandchildren who are either currently enrolled or recent graduates. It was a special moment for us all.
We are also grateful for the role Christian Savings has played in making this vision a reality.
- Fiona Sizemore, Principal, Liberton Christian School
