The opening of a new Northern Health School (Te Kura Awhina Ora o te Raki) classroom in Taupō marks a significant milestone for the local unit, says teacher and unit leader Maaike Clapcott.
At the official opening last Wednesday (November 26), Clapcott called the classroom – Te Puna Whakatipu (A place to grow and thrive) – more than just a building.
“It is a space designed for our ākonga. They are at the centre of everything we do. Every decision, every detail of this build was about creating the best environment for their learning and hauora.”
The Northern Health School (NHS) provides dual-enrolment education for those unable to attend regular school due to medical, mental health, or other health-related needs with teachers working closely with whānau, schools, and health professionals to ensure continuity of learning and support during a student’s challenging times.
Referrals can come from schools, health providers or by enquiry but all need a medical certificate.
Based in Taupō for over 13 years, the Taupō unit was originally in space at Mountview Primary School and then last year in a temporary location in the industrial area while the new classroom was being built offsite in Wellington and then shifted to and assembled at Taupō Intermediate School.
Clapcott said staff were thrilled to now have moved into a purpose-built space – where they have been since July.
From about 10 students when the NHS moved into Mountview, the school currently had about 46 on its roll, she said, served by six teachers (kaiako) and one teacher aide.
The Taupō branch of the NHS also works with students from Reporoa to Taumarunui, though most of its students are in the Taupō area, coming into the unit a couple of mornings a week.
“Because a lot of our students have mental health struggles, and they spend a lot of time at home, they find it a challenge to get out of the house,” said Clapcott, “so that's part of our transition process – that we try to teach them somewhere else, so they're learning to get out of the house again and be in a different environment.
“So, for example, in Tūrangi we use the local library, in Taumarunui we sometimes use a high school building.”
While the aim was always to ease students back into formal education, it was not necessarily the right path for all, she said.
“For some of our students a better pathway is… tertiary education or polytechnic or to enrol in apprenticeships or a job.”
There was always a health reason the students could not be in mainstream education.
“For 90 per cent of our students here it is mental health.”
In total the NHS area covers the top half of the North Island, north of a line from Gisborne across to Taupō and Taranaki, looking after nearly 2,000 students altogether.
The beauty of the job for local teachers was working with 12 students or fewer, said Clapcott.
“So we really have the time to create relationships and a lot of whanaungatanga goes into it, not just with the students, but of course also the whānau, the iwi, the community they work with, their normal schools (the school of enrolment)… but also the health team, so we're really able to make that connection and really get to know our students.”
This meant staff and the student could co-construct a learning plan to get the best for them and their educational needs.
The school had many success stories, Clapcott said, including helping Ari Pepper, the Taupō-nui-a-Tia College dux for 2025 in his transition back to formal schooling.
“We see successes when students are happy with what they're doing and happy with where they're at, when they are confident and know what they want to do in life and know what the next steps are that they want to take and they're health-wise able to take those next steps.”
