Tawa school receives award for imagining the future

WelCom November 2018: Sharon O’Meagher Make Your Mark – Young Minds Young Dreams! Students from St Francis Xavier School, Tawa, have won an at award in the ‘Make Your Mark’ national…

WelCom November 2018:

Sharon O’Meagher

Make Your Mark – Young Minds Young Dreams!

Receiving their award at parliament are: Nikau class; Sharon O’Meagher, teacher; Joan Woods, principal, St Francis Xavier School, Tawa, with Associate Minister of Education Hon Tracey Martin. Photo: Supplied

Students from St Francis Xavier School, Tawa, have won an at award in the ‘Make Your Mark’ national challenge to imagine a better education for the future. The winners and their families gathered at parliament for the awards ceremony, hosted by the Hon Tracey Martin, Associate Minister for Education, on 27 September 2018.

Nikau class responded to the ‘Make Your Mark’ challenge to young New Zealanders aged from five to 20 years. The challenge was to share their vision of what education might look like in the future.

Our years 2 and 3 children developed artworks showing a future school guided by ideas they considered important: peace, care, respect, creativity, exploration and action.

Their imagined schools are environments where peace is important so all young people can flourish. They are places where a spirit of care for one another and animals and their environments are a priority. Their schools of the future are safe places where all people work and play together respectfully. The schools are creative and active places for students to learn through exploration and action.

Their futuristic school buildings connect the outside and the inside so students can easily move in and out of the spaces learning and playing right throughout their whole school day, not just at break times.

The event was streamed LIVE and is on the Ministry of Education’s Facebook page.