Ngai Tahu representative Dean Whaanga, of Bluff, led 34 people in a cleansing of the Lake Ave site and laid down a clear pathway for the Remarkables Primary School project to take place by symbolically sprinkling water from Lake Wakatipu.
Mr Whaanga gave thanks to Mother Earth and asked her forgiveness for the tilling of the land, which began later the same day.
The establishment board of trustees, new principal Deborah Dickson, Queenstown Lakes Mayor Clive Geddes, plus staff from the Ministry of Education, Naylor Love Construction, Coffey Projects, architects Babbage Consultants, landscapers Baxter Design Group, neighbours and members of the public attended.
Mr Geddes thanked the establishment trustees for their voluntary hard work and said the paddock would be turned into an "exceptional educational facility that will be as attractive as the setting".
