Children and teachers at Brookfield Primary are overjoyed by the announcement that they're receiving extra classrooms and a brand new school in two years time.

Minister of Education Chris Hipkins surprised everyone by announcing a $16million school will be built on a new site 300m away from the current site on Millers Road. New classrooms will also be added to the current school in the interim.

School principal Ngaere Durie is over the moon and a little bit speechless.

She says every space in the school is used for teaching including her office.

'Twice a week we have maths club in my office. 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.”

The current school roll is 267 and last week they had three new enrolments. Ngaere has been principal for a year and says in her first two terms 47 new students started.

'That was a pressure cooker.”

'This year we've shifted everything so people can start sharing their spaces the best that we can.”

'We're all over each other but it's ok because the culture of the school is real nurturing and the tone is a strong culture of care.”

Chris says building a new school will mean there is 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.”

He says they chose to expand Brookfield Primary because of population growth in the area.

'We know that they're bursting at the seams, we're going to have to put some extra temporary classrooms here while the new school gets built. The new school will be built to roughly double the size of this school.”

He says the fastest growing areas in the country are Auckland, Bay of Plenty and Hamilton.

'We're working really hard to try and get ahead of that's so that we're building the capacity rather than having the schools get overcrowded then coming in and having to add space.”

As part of the National Education Growth Plans a $21 million investment will build 35 more classrooms across Bay of Plenty schools adding around 700 student places.

Schools in the Bay Plenty receiving new classrooms are, Arataki School, Mount Maunganui Intermediate, Omokoroa Point School, Kaimai School, Pyes Pa Road School, Te Wharekura o Mauao, Te Ranga School in Te Puke and Tahatai Coast School and Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Kura Kōkiri in Papamoa.

Schools in Rotorua are Ngongotaha School, Glenholme School, Whangamarino School and Kea Street Specialist School.