Avonhead

Avonhead is a suburb of the New Zealand city of Christchurch. It has two primary schools, a shopping centre and several parks.
Etymology.
Engineer William Bayley Bray (1812–1885) arrived in Canterbury in January 1851 on the "Duke of Bronte" and built a homestead at the head of the Avon River in an area with many springs, and he thus called it Avonhead. The area itself was referred to as Avonwood in early records, but Avonhead became the common term and this was formally adopted by the Waimairi County Council 1959.
Economy.
Retail.
Avonhead Mall opened in Avonhead in the 1960s. It covers an area of 3,876 m² and has 166 carparks. There are 13 retailers, including a Countdown supermarket.
Parks.
Major parks include Avonhead Park, Crosbie Park, Hyde Park, Ferrier Park and Burnside Park. There are various smaller reserves such as Stewarts Bush, Cricklewood Reserve, Westgrove Park, Staverly Reserve, Brigadoon Reserve, Bullock Reserve and Strathean Reserve.
Schools.
Avonhead School.
Avonhead School is a full primary school (years 1–8, or ages 5–13) within Avonhead, located between Ferrier park to the West and Avonhead Road to the East. The school typically has between 500 and 600 students and is a decile 7 school. Although located within Avonhead, the school zone also includes sections of the nearby suburbs of Ilam and Sockburn. Most students from Avonhead School go on to secondary schooling at Riccarton High School or Burnside High School. The school currently has 22 classrooms, a result of construction work undertaken to address issues of overcrowding which had been previously faced. These were accompanied by additional work on school facilities, including the construction of a new school hall, basketball and netball courts, which had been made necessary by the construction of classrooms on the sites of previous courts.
Merrin School.
Located next to the Avonhead Mall, Merrin School is a decile 8 school with a roll of just over 500 students. Merrin is a full primary school, educating years 1 to 8. As the entirety of the school's zone is covered by Burnside High School, the majority of students go on the learn there. The school is in the planning stage of the Christchurch Schools Rebuild Programme.