Our school is really proud of our new learning environment - both inside and out. Manurewa Central School has a long tradition of excellent academic achievement whilst maintaining a safe, inclusive and happy school ethos.
Although most of our buildings have changed, our commitment to providing high standards in everything we do has not.
The buildings are designed to provide flexible learning. They meet the demands of current thinking and research in modern learning pedagogy.
We appreciate that the classrooms look very different to those we experienced during our own school days. But then the world is a very different place!
We have 6 new pods each providing accommodation for the equivalent of three single cell classrooms. Pūriri remains as a two teacher classroom space, and we have four single cell classrooms in Tōtara for our New Entrant learners.
The new pods are flexible in design to ensure maximum use of space and adaptability in learning programmes.
There is a large central space, a large 'break out' room, a wet area, a small 'break out' room for individual/small group work, and bathroom facilities.
Each pod has three teachers and at least one learning assistant. The children have a whānau teacher responsible for their pastoral needs but may also be taught by any teacher in the pod according to the curriculum focus.
ILEs are new and transformative environments in education. Sometimes they are referred to as Modern Learning Environments (MLEs) or Flexible Learning Environments (FLEs).
In these spaces the 'learning environment' refers to all aspects that influence learning i.e. the physical space, teaching and learning practices, and social interactions.
An ILE is capable of evolving and adapting to meet the future focused priorities of education. It supports strengths based teaching and learning to ensure an inclusive approach and personalised experiences. Teachers work collaboratively sharing expertise, skills and passions with a focus on continual improvement and student progress.
Children are encouraged to take more responsibility for themselves and their learning and are supported to do so. Different learning zones can be set up across the space to provide quiet, focused areas of activity, or collaborative group work and hands-on learning.
