Te Huruhi School’s sleek $23m rebuild has been signed-off by building inspectors, marking a new era as staff and students fully embrace their “innovative learning environment”.
Principal Adam Cels admitted the process, which commenced in 2013, has been a “rollercoaster ride”, with building firms going into liquidation and workers downing tools during the Covid-19 lockdown.
“The thing is we have a fantastic, inviting building, a fit-for-purpose new school that will really benefit all the children who attend,” he told Gulf News. “It’s an incredible space and it’s got some really amazing attributes to the design, and we feel it’s better than many of the other schools that have been rebuilt and redeveloped recently.”
The modern, open-learning environment provides a custom-designed building for the school’s recently adopted learning pedagogy – with two to three teachers working collaboratively, taking classes of 50 to 60 students.
Most notable changes are acoustics and large learning spaces, which have the flexibility to morph to accommodate different learning plans throughout the day.
The classrooms are climate-controlled and well-lit, with smart systems that turn lights on as people move through the space. Glass-walled rooms called ‘break-out’ spaces, with large sliding doors allow quiet, focused work to take place. • Liza Hamilton
Full story in this week’s Gulf News… Out Now!!!
