Te Puna Taiao at Allandale School - Te Kura o Motueka, Kopeopeo, Whakatāne.

At the end of 2017 Allandale School became the first school to embrace the Te Puna Taiao kaupapa, with their “Project Taiao”.

With support from their kura whānau and community and local councils, as well as landscape designers, EarthArt Limited, we helped them to develop a plan to transform their school’s outdoor spaces into a multi-use play and learning space including all the design elements outlined in the Te Puna Taiao kaupapa.

Allandale is a Decile 2 primary school of around 400 students, approximately three quarters of whom identify as Māori. They were particularly interested in the potential of the project to build resilience in their tamariki and improve outcomes for their majority Māori students. Allandale was also really keen to create an asset for their wider Kopeopeo Community; a whānau-friendly multi-use outdoor facility with something that would appeal to everyone and improve whānau engagement with the kura and transitions to school.

The final design reflects the school’s beautiful rohe and embeds concepts from Te Ao Māori into all aspects of design. Our team worked to secure Lotteries funding of $560,000 in July 2018 for the project as well as $125,000 from the Grassroots Trust, which is now being used, along with the $117,000 of the school’s Ministry of Education funding and $30,000 of private donations, and $5,000 from the Disability Resource Centre, to transform the grounds.  Support of $42,246  for energy related parts thanks to generous support of the Easter Bay Energy Trust. We are leading implementation of the kauapa there with transformation due to be completed by August 2019. We are very grateful to all funders for their generous support.

We are also working with the School’s management, Board of Trustees, and Ministry of Health officials to develop a full evaluation programme to assess the outcomes of the project on the school and community.

Head to Te Kura o Motueka’s website to find out more about progress with their exciting plans and watch the video below to learn more about the community-related benefits of the Allandale case-study.

Renderings of Allandale School Project

The Community Garden and Barbecue and Hāngī Area - Allandale School

The Central Junior Natural Space - Allandale School

The Papakainga and Outdoor Teaching Space - Allandale School