Tāhunanui School open satellite classroom

Easier access to special education laid the foundation for Tāhunanui School’s newly-opened learning space for satellite classrooms.

The ribbon was cut earlier this month to mark the opening of the Mahitahi Building, which features two satellite classrooms, wheelchair access, automatic doors and an outdoor area.

The building is named after the traditional name of the Maitai River.

Tāhunanui School principal Barbara Bowen says, the project, which cost about $3 million, and was funded and managed by the Ministry of Education, was set in motion when Maitai School’s special needs student role was “bursting at the seams”.

“[Maitai School] were looking for a new site, and we had some spare ground, and it’s between Stoke and Nelson so it seemed like a logical choice,” she says.

“There are about 12 new students in here and some of them were out at the Henley School space but live in Nelson, so that’s quite a long way for their families to have to go, and some of them might have been at Victory, and that space will be closed down once this one is fully up and running.”

Barbara says the Tāhunanui and Maitai School Board of Trustees and the Ministry of Education first met to develop the idea in February 2021, and with the support from local builders, architects and cultural advisers, the building was completed ahead of schedule.

“We’re pretty thrilled that they’ve been able to deliver, and that’s because everyone really wanted this to happen,” she says.

“We all brought different knowledge and perspectives, but we’re always able to find common ground when the children are at the heart of what we were doing.

“Our ancestors all came by boat and tied up on the shores out at Tasman Bay,” Barbara says.

“So the pou [pillar] you see [at the building] are for Maitai School to tie up their waka to join us on this journey and become great sailors here at Tāhunanui School.”