Chapter 13 - Planning tomorrow's schools

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Planning tomorrow's schools	439

by a Board of Trustees, mainly elected by local parents, but with the school principal and teacher and student representatives.
  West Flaxmere's plans for a new school came just before the new school-based management system was to be introduced nationally. And it has therefore been a model for many other existing schools.*
  Kimi Ora starts with preschool, with children from as young as two. And it starts with choices. Between 60 and 70 percent of pupils are Maori, so at preschool they can, if they wish, start in a totally Maori environment - at the kohanga reo or Maori language nest. Or they can start in an all-English class or a bilingual class.
  The preschool has an array of child-development equipment, geared to each age-group: a range of colorful books, puzzles and manipulative educational playthings. The infants grow up learning about hygiene - washing hands after each visit to the toilet and before every snack or meal. They learn about nutrition, washing and cutting up fruit and vegetables for lunch in the spotlessly clean kitchen.
  The entire preschool makes full use of one of our most underutilized resources: grandparents. Visit any of the activities each day and you'll find grandparents leading action songs, dancing and other activities.
  Parents, too, are welcome - and even young babies. And not just at the play center. The school also has a full health centre. A health nurse is always on hand. Local doctors take turns to staff the medical center. There's a full-time dental nurse.
  At primary school, pupils can choose bilingual classes, in English and Maori, or they can learn solely in English. They've got a good range of computer equipment.
  Other services include a public health nurse dealing with families, a physiotherapist and a naturopath .
  Kimi Ora runs its own community newspaper, has its own community minister, operates its own community barter system and sports teams, has its own fitness, adult education and computer classes, and runs its own cafeteria, where parents, teachers and adult students mix every day.

* Since earlier editions of this book, Kimi Ora School has been criticized by New Zealand's Educational Review Authority for not meeting national academic standards. Accepting that criticism, in our view, does not nullify its place as a model for community involvement. Many of the models covered in this book have changed as school principals have changed, but they have been selected because of concepts that deserve to be copied and improved.

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