130 | COMMUNITY Cambridge Middle School: iLine Construction T T Sue Russell Exciting Middle School taking shape The much planned and anticipated new specialist area block is being constructed by iLine Construction. It’s an exciting time at Cambridge Middle School, located in the town on the site of the original District High School. A much planned and anticipated new specialist area block is being constructed by iLine Construction, in what Principal, Daryl Gibbs, describes as the most significant building project to have occurred in many many years. The school came into being in the early 2000’s as a result from demand by parents of the day for education options for their children year 7 – 10. Today Cambridge Middle School educates just shy of 700 students across these four year bands, with the majority in the Year 7 – 8 range – the old intermediate school years. Asked what benefits middle schooling offers students Daryl says that having the option for some students to remain in a home-class situation through year’s 9 and 10 brings real benefits. “Having a home room for some students is really important, with a teacher who knows them well. Students at this age and stage need strong relationships with a significant person who understands them and this is what those additional two years offer,” Daryl says. The project has been many years in the planning, working with Ministry of Education property people, consulting with the school community of parents and teachers and visiting other school specialist spaces to bring specific ideas to life in the building’s form. Above all, as Daryl says, the 285m2 building needs to be multi-purpose and flexible in how the spaces are used. Instead of having separate defined spaces, students can access specialist technology resources from a specific area then take these to other spaces in the building to work on. “It’s about the size of 2 ½ - 3 standard classrooms. It’s designed as a big shared area where students can plan with their design teacher, then move to other pods for science, biotechnology, design thinking and hard materials activities.” Daryl says when he visited Australia he saw a similar model which helped form his thinking as to how best the spaces could be utilised. He also says its very rare these days in New Zealand for a middle school to receive Ministry funding for a new technology block of this nature. “It’s not entirely Ministry money however, as we have had to seriously set aside money ourselves and fundraise to the tune of $300,000. We’ve been financially very careful.” The new build’s total cost is $1.5million plus a further $300,000 for refurbishment of the existing technology rooms. Coming from a background as a Joiner, able to understand plans and how building construction works, as Daryl does, has been a huge boost to the process, as he explains. “Because I understand how to read plans, when it came time to review the designs and in shortlisting, with the Ministry Project Manager appointed, the contractors we would make our final selection of, has been a smooth process.” Works began on the construction in April and Daryl says iLine has been an excellent company to work with, keeping everyone up to date on progress and having all the health and safety systems in place to be operating on the site. Come Term 4 the intention is to work with the teaching staff who will be based in the building, to hone out how best to deliver learning to an array of students. “We’re all very excited, now the roof is on and the building closed in to see great progress to its completion.” A formal opening of the building and its name is currently being discussed with local Iwi. Cambridge Middle School actually occupies two sides of a road, with the main campus of classrooms, administration and support spaces, on the side opposite where the new technology suite is being erected. As part of the project, iLine will also be upgrading some existing older spaces, putting in better acoustic materials and internal cladding inside. “We’re all very pleased this project that really began 8 years ago is now finally coming to fruition. I’ve worked with 3 different Boards of Trustees during this time-frame and each one has been totally committed to this build, knowing what it will mean for our families, teachers and students alike.” Tom Matatahi, Director 021 0263 0124 info@jmminsulation.co.nz www.jmminsulation.co.nz Proudly working alongside iLine Construction Installing insulation into: Commercial New Builds Retro Fit Manufacturers of premium glulam with outstanding service and delivery. Call today to enhance your project. Ph (07) 542 4540 or 027 294 6108 www.laminatedbeams.co.nz enquiries@laminatedbeams.co.nz
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=