Switched on new school

By Adam Gifford

With a brand new school to set up, Te Akau ki Papamoa Primary principal Boyce Davey put technology to the fore.

The school opened at the beginning of the month with 40 students who could not get into other primary schools in the fast-growing region just south of Tauranga.

With a strict enrolment process imposed by the Education Ministry, Mr Davey still expects the school to reach its full capacity of 312 by the end of next year because of the area's growth.

He describes it as a "pioneer school," attempting to do things with technology other schools will pick up.

He forged partnerships with Compaq, Canon and Intacta to give the school access to the latest technology at sharp prices.

He was able to have a say on the network as the school was being built, ensuring a suitable cable and switch infrastructure was in place.

"The network the ministry was going to put in wasn't enough. They were going for dumb hubs and it wouldn't have worked, not with what we want to do," Mr Davey says.

Compaq has installed ProLiant servers and Presario PCs in the classrooms. Each classroom will have two PCs and a laptop for the teacher, which can be taken home.

Compaq also donated a 12-PC lab, and will loan the school the latest technology to trial and review.

Each pod of four classes has a Canon copier. Mr Davey says that by putting the copiers on the network the school has eliminated the need for printers, which will save more than $1000 a month.

The school has bought Alchemy, a PC-based document management system, for $27,000 to create a paperless filing system.

"We will scan rather than copy, so we will save money there. When mail comes in, it is scanned and shredded.

"Rather than spending money on non-fiction books and encyclopaedias, the school will use the internet and subscriptions to on-line living libraries, so the book budget will go on non fiction."

The school is also developing its own resources. Mr Davey says it hopes to build up a large group of digital Maori language resources for when its Maori immersion class starts in 2001.

A sophisticated voice-mail system means parents are able to ring in and check the day's schedule and what homework their child should be doing.

Extensive use will be made of the school's web site, www.teakaukipapamoa.school.nz, for teaching and publishing material. It has also been used to hire staff - the application forms had to be downloaded from the site, saving the school in mailing and copying costs.

Mr Davey says new entrants are making readers using a digital camera and Powerpoint, a program he believes is well within the grasp of five-year-olds.

"It's very easy to set up templates. Powerpoint is excellent if you have a digital photo and one sentence and then click through to the next slide.

"The real value of this technology is for students to be comfortable with using it, so it becomes another tool."