Tauhara College's new classroom villages will have an outdoor quad in the centre with shade sails and an artificial turf to create a space where the students can socialise outside. Photo / Supplied
Tauhara College's new classroom villages will have an outdoor quad in the centre with shade sails and an artificial turf to create a space where the students can socialise outside. Photo / Supplied
Drastic measures are afoot at Tauhara College, with the school year about to start and principal Ben Hancock saying only half the number of classrooms required are available.
A cloud burst in December proved too much for the weather tightness of many of the school buildings, and now plans for delivering learning are changing on a weekly basis as the school juggles the logistics of constructing a large temporary village and housing students in the hall.
The school is hosting an information evening tonight in the school hall at 4pm and again at 5.30pm to keep its community up to date with happenings.
Tauhara College principal Ben Hancock outside one of the college's new modular classrooms. Photo / Laurilee McMichael
A newsletter to parents last week said the new temporary village is quickly taking shape.
"There's been non-stop activity on site to get the village operational for the start of term one. The village includes 13 new modcom classrooms, five new administration/support spaces and three ablution blocks."
The newsletter said the Ministry of Education contractor Livingstone Building is on track to deliver these new teaching spaces with a quad in the centre of the village and accompanying sunshade sails installed over the next few weeks.
With blocks A, B, C, D, the gym and the art room out of action this term, the ministry is sourcing additional temporary accommodation, which will be on site and added to the existing village sometime this term, ready to occupy early term two.
Puddles in Tauhara College's A block of prefabs after a downpour on Wednesday, November 25. Photo / Laurilee McMichael
Students are starting the year a week later, with Year 11s and 12s only attending one day in the first week back.
The structure of the day will change to three 90 minute periods to allow for more teacher contact time and the possibility of sharing resources with Taupō-nui-a-Tia College.
It is proposed the junior school inhabits the temporary village, while lessons for the senior school will be carried out in undamaged classrooms with one or two days in the school hall that will be carpeted and turned into a learning hub. Year 12 and 13 students will have one day where learning is in the hall with a teacher, and another day working online from home.
"The online learning day will be aligned with the day where students are scheduled to be away studying a trade through the Gateway learning programme," said Mr Hancock.
The newsletter also said as was in the case in the past, Year 12 and 13 students studying trades will have a scheduled day each week for off-site learning and will be further supported with an additional online learning session.
The hall won't be ready as the learning hub until week four of term one and to make up for any reduced teacher contact time, the senior timetable will run through to December.
Mr Hancock says in other years the end of the senior timetable would coincide with the start of NCEA exams in November.
Physical education lessons will be held in the gym from term two, however remediation work will be carried out in the gym in term one. It is hoped the Taupō Events Centre can be used for PE in term one, and an additional camp for the juniors in term one will reduce demand on the gym. Mr Hancock says it is still intended for junior camp at year-end to continue.
Tauhara College is hosting an information evening tonight (Thursday) to explain how this year is going to work and to answer any questions. The ministry's property delivery manager will be available to talk about the temporary village, hall and gym.
The meeting will be in the school hall at 4pm and 5.30pm.
