📍 5 Mollett Street, Christchurch Central City, Christchurch
📍 Address: 5 Mollett Street, Christchurch Central City, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand
📞 Phone: +64 3 377 7773
🌐 Website: aotawhiti.school.nz
Good school but if you do not go to class David Seymour come to your house FBI style but since I go to class I'm over halfway to level 1 at year 10 so if you want to learn this school is good just make sure you go to class
Used to go here, it was amazing at the old primary site when it was still Discovery 1. But as soon as it moved into town it started to go south. I hate open plan, can't focus, wayy too noisy, not built for the you get kids only the high school kids, looks flashy but isn't super functional. Enjoyed my time here but glad I decided to leave.
While kids are young this school may assist learning while challenging kids creativity and independence. You need to know however when's right to pull the parachute and get them out when they can no longer stay engaged on their own. Just don't expect any teachers or staff to inform you when your kids been disengaged all year spending 90% of their time on iPads and non-academic activity. Also expect that they will be 2-3 years behind (worse in both my kids cases) when trying to fit them into traditional schools. The schools ideology is sound, however as is the case with much ideology the execution is missing. Key checks and balances and more regular testing are urgently needed, particularly with literacy. Kids as they grow also need accountability to their term IEM goals with much more "path guidance" to ensure the goals are aligned to things we should be doing at school time (academic or career focused goals), and don't result in kids just mucking around.
If you're a family eager to be involved in your child's education and join a community of people who value collective teaching and learning, this is for you! Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery school is unique: parents can stay after 9 am and take part. This openness lets everyone understand how the school works from the inside out, creating strong opinions and views (both from parents, teachers and students). To benefit from the school's values, you need to be self-managed, and your family must commit some time. Ideally, your parents' work or finances should let you give at least 1-hour to half a day every week for projects, helping tamarikis, or sharing skills and passions. For academic achievement, you must spend an hour or two each evening on your studies (this is true no matter which school you go to in NZ). If you can't give time or don't want to be involved, or if you think this school is designed for neurodiverse, ASD, ADHD, or autistic-spectrum children, it might not be right for your family. In that case, look for other options. This helps keep the waiting list short for those truly excited to join our special community!
This school is great if you don't work well with the structured, all NCEA focused, year level based way of learning regular schools use and want to pursue other passions than NCEA. This school is also great if you have the knowledge, skills, and drive to start NCEA before year 11. Beware this school does require a higher level of self control and planning because you choose what NCEA opportunities to persue and passing NCEA won't be a given if you don't plan and track your NCEA to certain extent. Also parents need to more involved as they will most likely have to help their child plan their learning and NCEA progress. As a student of Aotawhiti I think if you have the knowledge, drive, and self control you will leave school better prepared for the less straight forward and structured environments of university and work.
No good. They dont accept tranferrees from other school. No sympathy on the students not being able to go to school.
Good school. New building looks great.
My 10 year old son wakes up every morning begging to go to school. (this location is the primary school half of Ao Tawhiti, which is supposed to be united in a new building downtown in 2019). The self directed model of Ao Tawhiti really works for my boy. He's years ahead of national standards and gets to spend several hours every day focused on learning stuff he actually cares about. You know that dead-eyed look that kids can get when school is a horrible burden forced upon them? You don't see that look at Ao Tawhiti. You might see crazy hairdos, kids wearing animal onesie pajamas every day, or 9 year olds arguing about the nature of the universe, but rarely the dead eyed look.
Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery is located at 5 Mollett Street, Christchurch Central City, Christchurch 8011, New Zealand
You can contact Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery at +64 3 377 7773
You can find directions to Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery by following this map link
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