On the 6th of February 2021, Whakatane’s Apanui School became a victim of an arson attack, destroying eight classrooms and the administration/staffroom block and crippling the school and its community at the start of the school year. Yet, as is often the case, that community embraced and grew strength of purpose from the experience, setting about immediately to do the very best it could for its children and families.
Principal, Simon Akroyd, recalls those heady and somewhat scary days, when decisions very quickly had to be made to ensure the children could remain in stable learning environments as quickly as possible.
“[T]he backing of the whole community in support of our situation was most valuable, and the fortitude of our immediate school community, families and staff can’t be measured.”
With a dedicated team of teachers, their families and a wider community offering all manner of support, the children were soon housed daily in spaces where they could continue to receive some sense of continuity in their learning, and especially be together. “We met with Whakatane District Council on Saturday afternoon, the day of the fire, and began to work out our first steps. We were offered the Memorial Hall, and the children moved into this space for four and a half weeks, while the school site was made safer and other plans put in place,” Simon says.
Then the Maori University, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, made contact offering use of their spaces over the fence from the school. In all, nine senior classes were relocated to this site, using the old conference centre, and portacom classrooms brought on site, while the junior classes moved back to the school site.
This was the situation for two and a half years until early 2023 when finally, all students were welcomed back onto the site and into a new purpose-built classroom block, that everyone is very proud of. Asked what contributed to the building project going so well, Simon says there were a number of critical factors.
“I’d have to say the backing of the whole community in support of our situation was most valuable, and the fortitude of our immediate school community, families and staff can’t be measured. We never lost sight of how important it was for the school to remain intact.” Other factors include the quality of the engagement with the Ministry of Education to bring about a building designed to meet what the school wanted.
“The old school was built in 1953, very much in the model of what was common. We realised we had a great opportunity here to be proactive and to take to the Ministry what we wanted. We were presented with several options but were determined the new build would suit us best and not just what the Ministry thought we should now deliver teaching and learning in.”
Several parents with building skills, architectural and planning backgrounds formed a working group. Ministry of Education architects, based in Christchurch, were sympathetic to what the school wanted reinstated, and the services of RDT Pacific, who project managed the build was, according to Simon, second to none. “They were really proactive; knew what we should fight for and not fight for and had plenty of ideas to engage with us about. They were really good and really realistic.”
Today, Apanui School is happily settled in its new classroom spaces. The school is home to 450 students and 45 staff. Simon says that pre-fire, the school was close to its community, however, now is ‘ridiculously close’.
“Our kids are awesome and we’ve just gone from strength to strength through this terrible experience. The building contractors were also awesome, engaging with student learning as they were invited into the ‘built spaces’ students had created. A building site is a rich learning environment in itself and it worked perfectly with our ‘Learning through Play’ philosophy.”
And looking ahead, Simon says, the whole school community is looking forward to the Annual School Gala, to be held on the 24th of November. This year’s focus for fundraising is developing the school’s native area and environment. “It will be a wonderful celebration for us all to be back on site, having fun together and helping build further our special school spaces.”
© Waterford Press Ltd 2024 – Independent Print Media New Zealand
