90 | “A stand-alone intermediate school is a very unique teaching environment as every year you lose half your students.” COMMUNITY Nelson Intermediate School: Nelson Builders T T Ange Davidson Upgrades will future-proof school Nelson Intermediate is undergoing a major building upgrade. The need for a Universal School Bathroom (USB) for students with a diverse range of physical and sensory needs kickstarted a program of building upgrades at Nelson Intermediate School. Now in the second year of building modifications to accommodate special needs students, the school has installed a magic carpet in the assembly hall that raises wheelchairs onto the stage, a new lift to access the school’s second story classrooms, upgrades to the staff toilet area, and a Superloo for students. Concrete paths have been levelled and large changing rooms are being refurbished for the swimming pool and sports grounds. The USB toilet provides a change table, toilet and accessible shower in a space that accommodates mobility equipment. Di Webb, principal at Nelson Intermediate says the 70-year-old building was not accessible for some students and it is now being “future proofed” using universal design concepts to ensure the school is accessible for everyone. “The school is very old and there’s lots of stairs to get up and down. The upgrades allow students with disabilities to easily do what able bodied students do every day and take for granted. We don’t want to have to turn students away because our school isn’t fit for them,” says Di. “We’re really fortunate to have students with special needs at the school. All learners should be able to access learning in mainstream education for as long as possible as inclusion teaches students empathy and to know that some people communicate differently, and that’s ok,” she says. Like any old building, once you start opening them up, there’s always more that needs doing. The school is fortunate to be working with Nelson Builders who have worked on the school over the last few years and know the buildings inside out. “Nelson Builders are an amazing company and they worked really hard over the school holidays to get the hall finished before the school term. The guys are great to have around and after two years, we’re pretty used of living amongst renos,” she says. Contact Harley 027 538 0009 Plumbing ∙ Drainage ∙ Digger Hire Contract Services Flooring REMOVAL | PREPARATION | INSTALLATION Kristof Zernikow Ph: 027 528 6460 kristof@your oor.co.nz www.yourfloor.co.nz Proud suppliers of Building materials to Nelson Builders (2018) Because of the school’s age, there are no open plan classrooms at the school except for the upgraded Te Pītau Whakarei, a Māori Medium, classroom where teaching and learning is in Te Reo Māori and through a mātauranga Māori lens. The bilingual school follows the curriculum for Māori-medium teaching, learning and assessment, Te Marautanga o Aotearoa. Two contributing primary schools in Nelson have Māori-medium or immersion, and some students start their education in a Kohanga Reo, a Māori-medium pre-school. “Nelson Boys and Nelson Girls now offer a Māori-medium in Year 9 so students can follow an immersion pathway, from preschool through to high school,” says Di. “A stand-alone intermediate school is a very unique teaching environment as every year you lose half your students. It can be both challenging and really rewarding. “Interestingly, New Zealand is one of the few countries in the world that has Intermediate schools as students go through a lot of change in those two years. “At Nelson Intermediate, we focus on leadership and mauri ora, a sense of belonging and wellbeing in knowing who you are in your culture. “They know they belong at this school,” she says.
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