St Joseph’s Te Aroha moves with times

The latest innovation in learning arrived at St Jospeh’s School in Te Aroha recently.

On Friday June 2, St Joseph’s Te Aroha hosted Bishop Steve, the Sisters of Mercy and the school and parish community to bless and open the new classroom block, named Ma¯huri.

The event started with a po¯whiri, where Bishop Steve and the Sisters were called onto the school and welcomed with haka po¯whiri.

The school’s founding order, the Sisters of Mercy, presented the school with some prayer reflection cards.

Bishop Steve then led the Rite of Blessing, leading all those gathered through the new building, and sprinkling everything and everyone with holy water.

St Joseph’s School has been preparing for the day when Ma¯huri would be blessed.

Each week students have been breaking into three groups, each taking care of one aspect of the event.

The new Ma¯huri classroom is a brand new Innovative Learning Environment catering for learners from Years 3-6.

It is aspacious classroom featuring all the latest and greatest in digital, educational and building technologies.

The classroom has been kitted out with chromebooks and other digital devices including an interactive whiteboard and two interactive teaching stations.

There are two break out rooms, one with a fully functioning kitchen more than large enough for a whole class to use.

There are also large ranch sliders that open out onto decks on both sides of the classroom allowing for learners to use the outdoors as workspaces too. The open-plan learning space and clever architectural design allows the two classrooms using the space to easily function side by side independently without any disturbance and also together within a shared space.

Teachers have been well prepared for the new environment as they are now in the second year of whole staff professional development in Learner Agency. This is where learners take respons- ibility for their own learning journey and teachers become guides for learning, not directing from the front.

This style of teaching and learning is right on the cutting edge of education in New Zealand, empowering children to become life-long learners.