Children with learning needs farewell Taupō's ADDI specialist school

Harley Fletcher Fraser (left) was among the students at ADDI, led by managing director Gaye Vartiainen.

Taupō's specialist private school for students with additional learning needs may have closed its doors for the last time this week, but it will leave behind a lasting impression on the hundreds of students it served.

ADDI, on Opepe St, worked with students aged between 5 and 21 years old, covering everything from school readiness to social skills to formal qualifications.

Some attended fulltime, with others attending for shorter periods in between stints in mainstream classrooms.

ADDI managing director Gaye Vartiainen said much of the school’s strength lay in its individually tailored approach.

“Just an hour a week can make a huge difference in a child’s life, from feeling like they aren’t coping in class to feeling like they’re on fire.

“It’s about the potential in the child and helping them understand the way they work.

“It wasn’t us trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, it was us taking that square peg and helping it to flourish.

“Just like we all don’t have blue eyes, we all don’t have the same brain.

“Investing in helping the child to understand the way they learn is amazing.”

Vartiainen said ADDI met a need within the community, particularly for students who were finding mainstream schools difficult.

“Being a private school was very refreshing, as it meant we could work in a different way that was beneficial to our students.

“Our classrooms were no more than 12 students and they all had two teachers.

“That meant that the students’ needs were able to be met more easily than in a mainstream school and it meant that the environment was low sensory with so few children.

“If you came here during a normal day during school time, you’d hear a pin drop.

“That wasn’t because the teachers wanted it, it was because the students requested it; it was what they needed.”

Changes in funding structures have meant the school, which has charity status, was no longer viable.

As it was the only facility of its kind in Taupō, students will now be accommodated fulltime in local schools.

There were too many highlights of the school’s time to count, said Vartiainen.

“One of the highlights is a child who came to us who was very hard to get to school and now has come to us for over a year and is flourishing in the mainstream system.

“We believe that some students just need a break from mainstream.

“There was a student who said being autistic mainstream was very scary for them. They said this was the first place they felt safe and comfortable.

“Another student did us proud.

“They walked to a different beat, to a different drum but by the time they left, they could walk with everyone else.

“They still come to visit and it breaks my heart because this won’t’ be their place anymore.”

Another high point of running ADDI, which opened in 2018, was that Vartiainen was able to work alongside her daughter Olivia Beck, who was the school’s principal.

The pair started the venture in 2009 with a tutoring business, which “grew and grew and grew”.

“My daughter is exceptional and I’m really sad that we won’t be working together anymore.

“It’s lovely that the Taupō community have supported us and it’s been great. We all dreamed of it lasting forever ... but it wasn’t meant to be.”

Milly Fullick is a journalist based in Taupō. She joined the Taupō and Tūrangi Herald team in 2022.

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