Bay Harbour: July 28, 2021

26 <strong>Bay</strong> <strong>Harbour</strong> News Wednesday <strong>July</strong> <strong>28</strong> <strong>2021</strong> Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />

Dreams into Reality<br />

Te Aratai College<br />

From Linwood High School 1954 to<br />

Te Aratai College 2022, our school<br />

continues its proud history.<br />

Next year we return to Aldwins Rd and our<br />

completely rebuilt and stunning new school.<br />

We thank our architects, Architectus; our<br />

construction company, Southbase; our project<br />

managers RDT Pacific and the Ministry of<br />

Education. Architectus and Southbase are the<br />

designers and builders of a number of prominent<br />

Christchurch buildings including the Central Bus<br />

Exchange and Tūranga, the central library. We<br />

are fortunate to have such a team.<br />

Te Aratai College is inspiring from the 650 seat<br />

theatre-standard auditorium to the sunny student<br />

centre and the student-friendly courtyards. Our<br />

design is for community-whanaungatanga,<br />

kōrero-conversation and personalised student<br />

success. It reflects the new name gifted to us by<br />

Ngāi Tūāhuriri, Te Aratai College, Pathway to the<br />

Sea.<br />

In 2016 there was extensive community<br />

consultation about what the community wanted<br />

for their new school. The key summary point<br />

from this community voice was:<br />

The school should nurture individual excellence<br />

by providing varied opportunities to meet<br />

individual needs. It should foster a ‘love to learn’<br />

culture that returns high levels of achievement<br />

and success at a cost that is accessible for all.<br />

Reflecting this, our classroom design is based on<br />

responsiveness to the needs of the students at<br />

that moment. Our classrooms are the standard,<br />

time-honoured size but with the flexibility to open<br />

up. This is because there are occasions when<br />

learning can be more open but equally there are<br />

times for some students when this is a learning<br />

disaster. Te Aratai College also has smaller<br />

rooms for students who learn best in reduced,<br />

very quiet environments, and bigger spaces for<br />

larger student gatherings. The building design<br />

has flexibility for staff and students to respond to<br />

the many factors that personalise success.<br />

Of course, new buildings alone do not<br />

necessarily improve education. The relationship<br />

with the teacher - he tāngata, he tāngata, he<br />

tāngata - and the personalisation of learning<br />

are the key for this. However, there is also no<br />

doubt that new, purpose-built buildings and<br />

spaces that arise from these community values<br />

of relationships and personalisation contribute<br />

hugely to student success. This is Te Aratai<br />

College.<br />

Southbase Construction is a leading construction management<br />

company, recognised for building state-of-the-art educational<br />

facilities where our tamariki can learn and grow.<br />

We are proud partners delivering Te Aratai College.<br />

www.southbase.co.nz