New charter school given approval to become one of NZ's biggest schools

An online charter school that opened just nine months ago already has permission to become one of the country's biggest schools.

Aotearoa Infinite Academy opened at the start of this year with 200 students, and has approval to grow to 2000 next year and 3000 in 2028.

The secondary school's growth is significant because other charter schools have remained relatively small, with the largest enrolling about 150 students.

A roll of 2000 would make the academy one of the 30 largest schools - and 3000 would put it in the top three to five, with government funding running to more than $20m a year.

For comparison, last year Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu (the Correspondence School) had 10,349 students, Rangitoto College 4081, Mt Albert Grammar 3576, Macleans College 2981, while Avondale College, Westlake Boys High and Auckland Grammar School all had more than 2700.