School’s learning places
After a two-year journey, Takapau School is the latest to embrace innovative learning environments.
In a major $260,000 refurbishment, the interior walls of the school's main block have been pulled down and in their place, there are now four new brightly-coloured learning areas which can be closed off with glass doors. There are also break-out areas, new ergonomicallydesigned chairs and desks from leading Hastings-based manufacturer, Furnware, and big screen TVs hooked up with computers to assist with digital learning.
Kauma¯ tua Roger Maaka blessed the newly refurbished classrooms on April 30 at the start of term 2 at a ceremony attended by CHB mayor Alex Walker, representatives from the Ministry of Education, school support project managers and Morris and Bailey, the Danniverke-based company that carried out the work.
Takapau School principal Biddy Tully said apart from new entrants, the learning environments were home to the rest of the school's 127 pupils. The decision to introduce the new areas was made with their best interests at heart, she said.
“We wanted to create environments that could be worked as single classrooms or be worked together. We think the large glass doors will work well for this. We also wanted some spaces for quiet work or where teacher aides could work, hence the break out spaces.”
The building work took all of the first school term, but Ms Tully said the disruption was kept to a minimum as the school was lucky have four other spaces for classes to work in temporarily, and both teachers and children managed incredibly well.
“Children are incredibly resilient and ours have certainly showed this during the term. They just got on with it. We want them to now enjoy their environments and make the most of every learning opportunity they have so they can achieve their potential. Our children are all working hard to become more self-directed learners,” she said.
Ms Tully said the school had carried out extensive research around the type of innovative learning environment it thought would suit the pupils, and the very first part of the journey started with the purchase of new furniture.
“Looking at our rooms now, we are thrilled we did this as the furniture supplied by Furnware certainly looks the part,” said Ms Tully, who thanked the school's hard-working PTA for fundraising for that part of the project.
Another major project involving school is the Makirikiri Stream Restoration Project. Headed by Hawke's Bay Regional Council, a plan has been made to rejuvenate the stream by creating a wha¯ nau picnic area, a pathway and planted area.
Ms Tully said her pupils would be taking part in a mass planting exercise due to be held over the weekend of June 8-10.
“Our children will be doing some in class learning and have already started visiting the site. We have had many kauma¯ tua join us on these visits which has been a great opportunity for our children to learn about the history and stories associated with the site. This will all tie in very well with our 2018 big idea, Save Our Place,” she said.