Brookfield School staff and students are excited construction has started on their new school.

The new school, Te Kura o Manunui, is being built around 200 metres from the current facility on Millers Road and will cater for up to 700 students, double the current capacity.

Te Kura o Manunui is expected to be completed for Term 1 in 2024.

Plans for the new school were announced in 2019 by Minister of Education Chris Hipkins.

At the time he told SunLive building a new school meant there would be minimal disruption.

'It's a lot easier to build a new school and move the kids, than to try and rebuild the school on the existing site and the new site is a bit bigger.”

Hipkins said they chose to expand Brookfield Primary because of population growth in the area.

'We know that they're bursting at the seams.”

After the announcement principal Ngaere Durie said every space in the school was used for teaching.

'The library is a classroom, the resource room is used for languages, staff room is used for reading club, it's also used for music tutoring.”

Brookfield School principal Ngaere Durie. Photo: Alisha Evans/SunLive.

The school currently has a roll of 307 and it has grown steadily each year. In September 2019 the roll was 267.

Ministry of Education property delivery associate deputy secretary Sam Fowler says the existing site is constrained and unable to cater for the growth occurring in Brookfield School's catchment.

'We are funding and delivering an entirely new school, on a larger site, with a build roll of 550 students and a master plan roll of 700.

'The new facilities will cater for current and future growth, while providing excellent facilities that support the school's vision for teaching and learning.”

Since the build was announced in 2019, the ministry has master planned the site and designed the new school around site-specific challenges, says Sam.

'We are now in the early stage of construction with a view to the new school facilities being ready for Term 1, 2024.”

The budget for the new school is $16 million and building consent was issued by Tauranga City Council in March.

Sam says decisions have not yet been made about the future use of the current Brookfield School site.