Things that have happened, are happening, and will happen

Things that have happened:

The furniture has arrived, and in terms of pure numbers, the Puna Waiora has seen an significant increase in traffic so far this year.

By my count, in an average break time we have around 30-40 children using the library in various ways: some in groups of 4-6, some in groups of 2-3 and some by themselves. 

During class time I have had around 20-30 students in the Puna Waiora mostly doing some work. 

Teachers and other adults have commented on how much calmer it feels, and overall I think the new furniture has helped set a tone for our students. 

Already some Teina students saw it as a great opportunity to put a movie on for the students, and they facilitated a movie day on  a Friday Lunch time - so the very format of the space has been a 'spark' for some of our ākonga.

Things that are happening:

Along with Irihapeti, I have been working on rebranding the Puna Waiora to reflect the two halves of the space. In the short term this should help set expectations for the Puna Waiora, and also increase their visibility in the public eye for our community.

The Puna Waiora is also undergoing some collection changes as I have been working with a group of Tuakana  Ākonga and Rebecca Hodge to create specialist spaces in the Tuakana side with a rotating collection that should increase exposure for the collection and also encourage ākonga to engage with texts more and see them as relevant for transdisciplinary inquiry. This will also help imbed the Puna Waiora within the life of the kura more fully.

Things that will happen:

The same sort of engagement that is happening with tuakana needs to be replicated with Teina, in whatever form that will take. Also, as an observation: the new format seems to attract more from tuakana than teina: there is an area for them with lower tables and small cushions, however they seem to not engage with it. 

I am investigating the utility of VR in the library, and am hoping to make a trip to Tūranga to visit their VR set up and see what they are doing and how we can use it best here.