We had an amazing 3 hours, and have come away buzzing with ideas and discussions.
Their school is very different - in terms of their timetable, layout/organisation of classes, and a bunch of other things. A significant part of their school are their Impact Projects, which student complete, and the whole of Wednesday is dedicated to the Impact Projects. They have 100 minute blocks for lessons, and have tutor time Tuesday and Thursday mornings for 100 minutes. All students are mentored, as are all teachers.
Students can bring in their own devices, and they do not proscribe which device - just whatever they have. But it's not compulsory. There are a lot of desktops scattered around the learning hubs/environments/spaces (places with no walls where three classes can be operating side by side at the same time - one of their mottos: don't turn a blind eye). But a lot of student have them, and are on them during classes. There are 'lockers' available for laptop charge only - you bring a padlock, and lock your laptop in their for charging and then take it out when it's done (see below). Each locker has a plug point.
They are an 'open source' school, meaning that all of the software of the school computers has been downloaded from the internet for free (is open sourced). So, they do not run Microsoft Word/office, or the like.
Students all seem actively engaged in their classes, and are happy to just sit and 'chill' during breaks. Check out some of the pictures below... (Sorry bout some of the quality)
(Love this picture)
Relationships between teacher and student are VERY important at this school, and they are doing everything they can to foster these.
Looking forward to visiting Hobsonville Point Secondary School tomorrow for two days of #edchatNZ conference - tomorrow we get to see the school in action (a new school, with modern learning environments, a modern approach to teaching and learning, and modern digital technologies).
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