Patea Area School

Pātea Area School is in South Taranaki and has 170 students ranging from Year 1 through to Year 13. Ensuring the learners have access to technology is an important focus of the school. 

“We're a decile one school, so that means that ‘bring your own device’ is unattainable for our community. Accessing technology and making sure that we've got equity across the board is really important,” James Davidson, Principal, said.

“Unfortunately, technology needs to be updated every few years. It’s a big cost when you're buying large amounts of devices or any technology. We can’t fundraise that amount of money. The only other option was to lease technology such as this, which means we take money away from elsewhere in the school.”

Funding of $35k from Toi Foundation enabled Pātea Area School to purchase devices. 

“Almost every year level in the school will be affected by the technology. Our students are able to access learning for art and music through the iPads. We've got some really neat programs that have been developed, and the kids really enjoy it.”

“We've got a learning support centre and we’re installing a television in their classroom so the students with diverse learning needs can watch a movie together. We’ve also been able to purchase some recording equipment for the music class,” James said.

“One of the things we learned from COVID-19 was that having young people who are technology literate is really important. It was crucial that our learners understood how to log on to the devices and get access to their learning.”

“Our aim is that our students will be among the leaders of tomorrow and be fully equipped for a modern world.”