New modular classrooms are in use at Te Awamutu College. Photo / Kate Durie
New modular classrooms are in use at Te Awamutu College. Photo / Kate Durie
Last year, The Ministry of Education approved three new classrooms for Te Awamutu College due to its roll growth over the last 10 years. However, within the last three years, growth has been rapid and significant.
Te Awamutu College's roll is forecast to continue growing due to the town's developments and expansion.
The college has been trying to get an enrolment scheme to manage its numbers for some time. Without the scheme, the school must continue to take pupils from outside its zone. This process has been slow.
The school currently is obliged to accept pupils from all over Waikato.
"We are a victim of our own success to some degree, due to the school being in such a good shape, it attracts people," says Deputy Principal Wayne Carter.
This is a nationwide scheme, that is seen in rapidly growing areas all over the country. Ministry has purpose-built two factories to construct these classrooms, and have now begun outsourcing them.
"We set a record from start to finish, Cindy James from the Ministry of Education and James from Build Smart worked well with us and they were very accommodating," says Wayne.
Te Awamutu Colleges classrooms were built within several weeks by Build Smart in Huntly. Build Smart is flat out building classrooms for the Waikato and Bay of Plenty.
"Build Smart and the Ministry of Education have been fantastic working right through the summer, and they were available for day two of our school year," says Wayne.
"We are really pleased with them. They look like modern, permanent classrooms."
The classrooms are fully insulated (in the walls, ceiling and under the floors) with heat pumps.
CO2 sensors are added to each of the classrooms which is new technology the ministry is looking to roll to all classrooms around the country for state and state-integrated schools to support schools to understand and improve ventilation.
What good ventilation look like on the monitor within each classroom. Photo / Kate Durie
The sensors work by checking for good indoor ventilation to limit the spread of Covid-19.
In the absence of good ventilation, infectious aerosols can remain airborne for hours. The monitor is programmed to change to yellow or red when it reaches 800ppm, the level recommended by the CDC to limit the spread of the virus.
Showing the 'red' from a controlled test to see what 'poor ventilation' looks like on the monitor. Photo / Kate Durie
If the monitor indicates yellow or red, steps can be taken to ensure good ventilation. Such as opening windows and doors. Sometimes vacating the room may be required if it is consistently high around 2000ppm.
