Not a catchy title but a very interesting topic all the same! Over the holidays and this term I have been drawing together information and research about children with learning needs in collaborative learning spaces.

This research was begun during my study leave last year. I am in the process of writing a research paper, with the guidance of Core Education, which will be presented to school principals and the Ministry of Education later this year. What have I found out from my survey of parents and my research? What has my survey of whanau/parents with learning needs tamariki about collaborative learning spaces (CLSs) told me? In brief, a few points:

· Few schools have consulted with parents of learning needs children in much depth about school redevelopment or rebuilds

· Communication with parents of learning needs children varies greatly from school to school

· Some schools recognise and foster the strengths of learning needs children

· CLSs need small, quiet spaces included for learning needs children to use

· Teacher organisation and routines in a CLS need to be strong

· CLSs need to have excellent acoustics and sound deadening

· Having more than one teacher knowing a child is of great value

My immediate concern as Principal, and that of our Board and staff, is to get the best learning environment built that we can for all our tamariki and especially those with particular learning needs. All schools are moving to develop collaborative learning spaces. At Redwood we have done mountains of work around teaching in a CLS in preparation for working in these spaces soon. The latest build timeline from the Ministry of Education is a Term 1 2019 start, 18 months later that we were originally told. This delay has been frustrating as our current buildings and grounds deteriorate due to ‘frozen’ property funding.

Both the Board and I are working with the Ministry of Education to finalise the ‘Master Plan’ for the school but the budget for the redevelopment appears to be very tight. Redwood will be a blend of some new and some refurbished learning spaces. We are currently discussing with the MoE the budget. This is, not surprisingly, a tight budget but it must deliver learning spaces for our Redwood tamariki that meet needs over many years to come.

I will be meeting with parents later this term to particularly talk about the rebuild and our learning needs tamariki.