We were really excited to open and rename our newly renovated C Block, as ‘Te Manawa’ with a dawn blessing on a very wet Monday morning.

The refurbishment originally started in August 2021 and despite lockdowns, supply issues and Omicron affecting contractors, C3 our main contractor managed to keep on track for our mid March opening.

Te Manawa was a traditional classroom block which accommodated the Learning Hub, Guidance Counsellors and Deans, but all very separately, in silos. The traditional classroom set up as built in the 1950’s was no longer fit for purpose. There was an obvious pastoral link between the users, but the physical building limited opportunities to collaborate and did not address the unique teaching needs of the Learning Hub, whose numbers have grown exponentially in the last three years.

Te Manawa is now designed as an interactive learning space that caters to a range of learning and pastoral needs. There is a large open teaching space, with a number of breakout rooms, a kitchen, Deans area and separate Guidance offices. Without the same physical barriers, the space ensures that these functions can overlap and allows for collaboration between the multiple users. This includes students of course! Some smaller spaces and offices have solid walls for privacy, others glass walls for visibility and others have large sliding doors to divide spaces as and when required. The flexibility allows for greater functionality and purpose.

Karen Gilby, Leader of Learning of the Learning Hub said “True inclusiveness is invisible, when it happens naturally, this building enables that, every student will have their needs catered for. If we have a noisy group working in the far room, we shut the doors, but as the walls and doors were glass we could shut out the noise while allowing those students to feel part of the larger space, which is exactly what we wanted the space to allow. We still have one more familiar ‘traditional’ classroom which acts as a great transition for students developing their confidence to engage with the wider school.”

The design is modern in colour and materials, with lots of natural light and large decks which allow great use of the indoors with the outdoors. Te Manawa also includes a disability bathroom and shower facilities. Adding additional pieces of furniture not only adds colour but also supports greater flexibility and in particular, ensures that the needs of all users can be met. Wide corridors make wheelchair access a breeze. As one Inclusive Learning Assistant (ILA) said once it was all set up and looking great, “its not really done until we add our students”. This is now being realised. “Its all working beyond expectations, with happy noises everywhere, and it's only Day 3” said one ILA.

The student and staff feedback included comments such as “loving it”, “pretty cool, plenty of space for everyone”, “feels calm, not as chaotic now”, “it feels like we’ve added two rooms, it's hard to believe it's the same footprint”

The Deans and Guidance areas are now visible and part of the whole space; Te Manawa is a truly student centered pastoral hub. The Leader of Guidance, Jenny Beets said, “the colours and spaces set the tone of a warm inviting place. It feels great to have a shared cohesive building whereby we all, the Deans, Counsellors and Learning support staff are all promoting the care and wellbeing of our students.”

Thank you to all the staff and students who have managed their workload in make shift work spaces whilst this work was being undertaken. Special thanks also to Kaumatua Willie for the blessing, Carling Architects, the builders, C3, our TGC property team, Business Manager and of course the staff and students of Te Manawa. The vision for C Block has now been realized and has most certainly been worth it.

*(Te Manawa directly translates to ‘ The Heart’ but Manawa is to breathe, so Te Manawa has a sense of centrality in terms of its position, place, use and visibility in our kura but also as a place to ‘catch one's breath’ to ‘breathe’ and move forward).