Local students and teachers thriving in college's new $33.5m learning spaces

Students and teachers are flourishing in their new learning spaces following the opening of the $33.5m new buildings at Te Kura o Tititea Mount Aspiring College (MAC).

Principal Nicola Jacobsen said she was delighted to start the 2023 school year with students and teachers thriving in their new spaces.

“Our new buildings include teaching spaces, performance studios for music, drama and dance, art workrooms, music practice rooms, a new library, a wellbeing hub, a staff room and meeting rooms, and a whare which we will use as a learning and meeting space.

“MAC serves a large community so this is an important infrastructure investment that will support the learning of our young people today and into the future as our school grows.”

Head of Learning for Year 7 Tiffany Kemp says the new flexible spaces promote stronger relationships between teachers and students.

“Our students can now work with four teachers as part of a learning hāpori (community) and benefit from having access to a mix of teachers with varied interests, passions and expertise.

“Thanks to the flexibility of the space, we can organise the learning environment to cater to our students’ different learning styles.”

Head of Learning for Year 8 Kate Brown agrees. “Students can create spaces that support their learning whether it be working in a group, in a large meeting area, with a partner in a quiet space, or in a cafe-style booth on their own,” explains Kate.

“We also have a dedicated area that allows for creativity, innovation and big projects, and smaller break-out spaces students can use for quiet reflection or where students can receive one-on-one personalised support from a teacher.

“The new learning spaces also allow teachers to share best practice approaches and ideas which means we can make the most of the strengths of our staff and learn from each other.”

Image (Supplied/MAC): Year 8 students Casey Knights-Johnson (L) and Tyler Coombs

Year 8 students Tyler Coombs and Casey Knights-Johnson believe the new spaces are helping them learn better.

“We can do lots of independent learning in this space,” says Tyler.

“The teachers explain what we need to do and they are always here to help us if we need it but you can go off and get your work done.

“The colours make you feel relaxed and calm and because I don’t feel stressed, I can concentrate better.”

Casey says she really enjoys having two teachers in her learning space.
“If one of them is busy, I can rely on the other one and they can teach us different things in different styles.

“I love working in this space because it’s really open, the light shines through, and you can see over the whole school so it makes learning fun, not boring.”

Images (Supplied/MAC): The new buildings at Te Kura o Tititea Mount Aspiring College.