AgriBusiness News May 2018

Bright new learning environment
for Southwell students
A bright and airy new Southwell building,
featuring six classrooms and a large central
shared space, is providing junior students
with cutting-edge, personalised learning
spaces.
The Murray and Ann Day
building has been in use
since late March, with
a formal opening on April 4
attended by Southwell old boy
Te Arikinui Kingi Tūheitia
among others from Hamilton’s
business, arts and sporting
communities.
Designed to blend in with
the surrounding buildings, it
has six classrooms for years 2
to 4, and a central hall space
for the children to use for art,
music and other activities.
“Southwell prides itself in
offering an educational experience
designed to inspire individual
achievement, strong personal
values and confidence for
life,” headmaster Jason Speedy
says.
“This is a multimillion dollar
build that is probably the
best learning space in the country.”
The new teaching block is
a state of the art replacement
for the 1968 Lowers Block. It
covers more than 900 square
metres, and is designed with
the flexibility to be used by
children of any age.
Each of the six classrooms
has breakaway and multipurpose
areas.
“These epitomise Southwell’s
commitment to small
class sizes and a personalised
education which caters for individual
and small group learning,”
Jason says.
“It creates learning spaces
that are cutting edge in terms of
creating learning moments and
relationships.”
Each year 2 class will have
a maximum of around 22 students,
and year 4 a maximum
of around 25. Those numbers
often go lower, as the children
join smaller groups for different
subjects.
The natural light comes
courtesy of large windows in
each classroom and also the airy
design of the central atrium,
which the classrooms open
on to. The atrium has another
feature: embedded in its wall
are five bricks taken from the
original building before it was
demolished - a reminder of the
past for those in the present.
The central space itself
opens out onto hockey fields
and is already proving its
worth, being well used for the
likes of drama, music and kapa
haka.
It also gives the children
and teachers in the nearby
classrooms an easily accessible
space for art lessons and other
activities.
It's fair to say the teachers in
the new block love the changes.
Year 4 teacher Keryn Cam-
Continued on page 41
BOARDING AT SOUTHWELL SCHOOL
Developing Creative Minds in a Caring Community
200 Peachgrove Road, Claudelands,
Hamilton 3214 | Ph 07 855 2089
www.southwell.school.nz