Northland College rebuild a whole new start for Kaikohe

The new whare at Northland College was blessed, and named Te Puu o te Wheke, at 5am.

A $14 million rebuild of Northland College is more than just a new building - it's a whole new start for the students and for Kaikohe.

Principal Jim Luders said last week that the next challenge would be for staff, who would have to adapt to an entirely new way of teaching.

The new school was blessed at 5am on Friday, followed by an official opening by Associate Education Minister Louise Upston.

Principal Jim Luders and Ms Upston share a moment that was a long time coming.

Hundreds of people, including ministry officials, Mayor John Carter, MP Kelvin Davis, election candidates Shane Jones and Matt King, kaumatua and kuia, teachers and students from other schools turned out for the ceremony.

Just as the powhiri began a short shower cast a rainbow, symbol of new beginnings, over Kaikohe.

As a rural electorate MP, Ms Upston said she understood that the heart of any rural community was its school. She also told students to see the rebuild not just as a new building.

Associate Education Minister Louise Upston cutting the ribbon, with head students Aroha Lawrence and Te Kopa Kopa.

"You should see it as a new school, a new beginning, and a new way forward for all of you," she said. A particularly pleasing aspect of the project was the involvement of Ngapuhi and the local community, from the outset.

Two years ago the school's dilapidated state hit national headlines, prompting a flurry of emergency repairs and plans for a total rebuild. At the time its classrooms were described as the worst in the country.

The new school, built by Whangarei-based A-Line Construction, comprises 21 inter-connected spaces, including a gym, a whare which can double as a hall or be split into learning spaces, a dance studio, art and IT areas, labs and a kitchen.

Bifold doors can be opened to create a few large spaces or closed to create hubs for small groups.

Once the new building is in use, at the start of next term, the old school will be demolished. Only the administration block and the pool will remain.

Among the students checking out the new school on Friday was deputy head boy Phoenix Witehira, 17, from Otaua.

"It lifts your spirit when you come in to a new building. It makes you feel proud to go to Northland College," he said.

Mr Luders was "absolutely delighted" with the opening and the new building.

"It will have a massive effect on the students and how they feel about themselves," he said.

"The teachers will also feel uplifted and not stressed, but we'll have to change our whole teaching style. It's totally different. We'll have to unlearn everything we've done before."

Instead of a teacher dispensing knowledge from the front of the classroom, students and teachers would work collaboratively, using digital devices in variously sized groups, a system that staff had seen working in Auckland.

In the past it had seemed at times to Mr Luders that no one cared, or that Kaikohe didn't matter.

"It made me quite angry at the time, seeing these kids and knowing they deserved much much better as young Ngapuhi.

"It was a frustrating, long wait, but I do understand the ministry has a tonne of other buildings they have to attend to," he said.

But Northland College was forgotten no longer.

"The kids know it, the town knows it, the community knows it," he added.