Haeata Community Campus Chairperson, Dr Cheryl Doig explains why there is a lot more to the new school in Aranui than the recent negative media coverage portrays.

I was disappointed to read the biased tone and inaccuracies written in recent articles about Haeata Community Campus. Let’s be clear. After less than 140 days, we are not perfect. However, our progress has been extraordinary.

Visitors walking around the Haeata Community Campus are pleasantly surprised. Instead of the negative images projected in The Press, the visitors see hundreds of students from five to 18 years enjoying the teaching, learning and flexible spaces at Haeata.

We have hosted many educators and school leaders and they consistently comment that they see happy, engaged students and professional staff who are creating great learning opportunities for learners. These are comments from professional educators, genuinely interested in changing their thinking about schooling for the future.

We acknowledge the upheaval and pain from the community. We cannot change the past but we are committed to facing our challenges proactively as we seek to create a new school community. Our students come from far and wide, providing a rich melting pot of cultures and backgrounds.

Students have joined us not only from the four closing schools of Aranui, Wainoni and Avondale Primary Schools and Aranui High School, but from over 120 different schools. Some of these young people do exhibit anti-social behaviour, repeating the behaviour also documented in the closing schools. This is also consistent with post-earthquake behaviours reported across the city regardless of the shape of the physical learning environment.

As in any school there are fights, but there is no evidence that these are gang related as reported. Student safety and wellbeing is paramount and this is a constant focus, and is resourced accordingly.

We employ a strong wellbeing team of social workers and learning specialists to support our children and families. Staff receive training in learning and behaviour strategies and engage with agencies to minimise issues and work with whānau. We have just introduced a Sonic Wall which blocks access to disruptive social media sites and can be personalised for each user.

Haeata is like many new school builds, in providing flexible learning spaces. Our learning communities, or hapori, feature a mix of learning commons and breakout spaces of varying size, allowing for individual, small group and larger group teaching. The flexibility of learning spaces enables more collaborative approaches to teaching and learning but it is the people who make a difference. Not one teacher has left Haeata since school opened at the beginning of the year, such is the belief and dedication of our team. They have worked tirelessly to build relationships and to know each learner’s passions and needs. This takes time. It is our most important work.

The physical environment has become the misguided focal point for the wider issues in our community that are testing our parents. The flexible spaces and teaching methods are not necessarily the reason why some families have left since the start of the year. While we have lost students to surrounding schools, we have also enrolled almost as many new students during the year.

Our children interact with several teachers on a daily basis but have a home teacher who knows them best. They have a significantly higher chance of making a connection with an adult who will understand and hopefully inspire them.

Our learning design allows students to pursue their passions and interests as part of their weekly timetables. Students have opportunities to engage in projects, large and small, start small businesses, serve their community and support good causes. We support students on high performance sports programmes and enable them to catch up on their learning when they can be at school. A typical approach to school timetabling does not enable this to happen.

Our learning model encourages students to become self directed. There is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach to this as some would suggest. Personalised learning is not left to chance and requires teachers who understand curriculum, learning and learners.

Haeata provides NCEA pathways for students to achieve these qualifications as part of its wider view of success. Reading, Writing and Maths are ever-present in the curriculum. While they may not always be taught as discrete subjects they are considered foundational to learning.

All ages have access to technologies such as laser cutters, 3D printers, robotics and coding to help them become prepared the world of the future. Our expectation is to prepare students to use digital technologies, but also to be literate, numerate thinkers who are competent to thrive in the future. We live in times of exponential change and the education system is not ready to prepare our children for jobs that may not even exist yet.

It is easy to to criticise based on unsubstantiated hearsay, ignorance and bias. Such a negative slant on education sucks energy away from those striving to achieve greatness. Our city, the East, our education system and Haeata would be better spending time on creating opportunities to be world-leading together.

Fortunately, the majority of our Haeata students recognise and grab the opportunities this brand new school offers them and the community.

Dr Cheryl Doig

Establishment Board Chair