School History

Te Kura o Mōkihi,Spreydon School is a strong community based school with a long history within our local area.  We are proud to be one of  the oldest urban  Schools in Christchurch providing strong academic and sporting opportunities for its students.

The first building for Spreydon School was built in 1865 at 2 Halswell Road site with a starting roll between 25-30 students.

The School was first named Upper Heathcote School due to its proximity to the river.

Further land at 7 Halswell Road was gifted to the Upper Heathcote School Committee by the Bishop of Christchurch to build a Community School under the control of the Education Board. The land was granted on the 8th August 1872.  This is the date we celebrate our School’s Birthday each year.

The Upper Heathcote School name was changed to Spreydon School in 1880 after the School committee advocated to the Education Board.  The name Spreydon comes from the name of a farm owned by W S Moorhouse, A Superintendent of the Canterbury Province.  Our School is the closest school to the old farm.

Spreydon School reached its peak roll of 860 in 1972.

The opening of  Manning Intermediate in 1969 allowed Spreydon School to continue to present day as a contributing School of Year 0-6 (Former New Entrant – Standard 4) .

In 2011 Spreydon School was virtually unaffected by the Christchurch Earthquake.  However the School Hall was pulled down as a Health and Safety precaution.

In 2013 the Ministry of Education created a Greater Christchurch Schools Programme in which Manning Intermediate was closed and Spreydon School was earmarked to relocate to the Manning Intermediate site in 2017.

On the 26th July 2018 Te Kura o Mōkihi Spreydon School Students and Staff walked  from  2 Halswell Road to 50 Hoon Hay Road.   This was the last day that Spreydon School operated out of the site at 2 Halswell Road. 

The relocation of Te kura o Mōkihi Spreydon School was part of the Greater Christchurch rebuild programme which offered Spreydon School  the opportunity to relocate to a new site with purpose built buildings.  This process took over 3 years to complete. The move ensured Te Kura o Mōkihi Spreydon School a future.

The new site provided greater community connectedness since the previous site had been cut off from its community through the development of the Southern Motorway and an aging site and buildings.

Much work was needed to complete the move to the new site including a re roof project of the existing Manning Intermediate Administration and Hall. An official opening of the site was delayed until the site works were completed.  The Official opening and plaque to commemorate the new home of Te Kura o Mōkihi and the naming of the Pakoko Hall and Second Playground was to be held on Friday 16th October 2020.

Please feel free to come and read our History wall and feel free to share your history with the school via our email address pa@spreydon.school.nz