Flooded kura sends students across town for lessons

A Māori language immersion school in Whanganui has been so badly affected by the recent flood it is sending pupils to another school across town.

Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Ātihaunui-ā-Pāpārangi, in Pūtiki, was the worst affected school in the rohe.

It lost important resources from its library and art room which sit at ground level.

Tūmuaki (principal) Miriama Harmer said because the water that flowed through the kura was mixed with discharge from a sewerage system, it was unsafe for the tamariki to return to the school.

"One of the biggest things for us is our whole area was flooded, and it was flooded with contaminated water, so we can't allow any of the tamariki back in," Ms Harmer said.

"We have been so grateful that Te Kura o Kokohuia have opened their doors, and the kura kaupapa was able to re-open today.

"We bus all of our tamariki over there. We're sharing classrooms with them and it's been a wonderful experience."

She said contractors were at Te Kura Kaupapa o Te Ātihaunui-ā-Pāpārangi and had started to rip out the flooring and clear the classrooms of silt and debris.

Ms Harmer said the kura was planning to build new classrooms a few metres higher above ground to cope in the event of any flooding in future.

She said it hoped to reopen the kura after the school holidays in July.