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Ao Tawhiti or Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery (ATUD) is a state area school in
Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...
, New Zealand. The school is one of eleven schools running under the " Designated Special Character" criteria of the Education Act 1989. Students are given the flexibility to pick from a variety of interchangeable classes and subjects to design their own customised learning programme, including working on individual projects as an alternative to total classroom learning. They also have the option to learn subjects which are not traditionally taught in New Zealand secondary schools, such as philosophy, video game design,
DJing A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...
and music production. The original concept for the school was explored in 1993 by John Clough in the ''Alpha Learning Programme'', based on a progressive learning theory. The concept was trialed in 1998 at Elmwood School. Following approval for the school under designated special character criteria, a primary school named Discovery 1 was launched in 2001 in central Christchurch. In 2003, a secondary school named Unlimited (later renamed to Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti) was established nearby in the city mall area. In 2005, Unlimited expanded into the newly built Hallensteins Building, a tower block at the intersection of High Street and Cashel Street, and occupied the basement area below the bus exchange. Both Discovery and Unlimited became established as part of the central city community by the late 2000s, which became central to the culture and identity of the school. In 2011, the campus buildings were damaged in the
2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time, local time (23:51 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the Canterbury Region ...
, and were later demolished. The schools setup temporary premises in the Halswell Residential College campus in
Aidanfield Aidanfield is a suburb in the south-west of Christchurch, New Zealand, about from the city centre. The land, which had been owned by the Good Shepherd Sisters since 1886, now incorporates the Mount Magdala Institute and the St John of God ...
. In 2013, they relocated to the
University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...
Dovedale campus in Parkstone Avenue, Ilam. Later that year, it was announced that Discovery and Unlimited would be merged to form a new school, temporarily named Unlimited Discovery Merged School''.'' The merger took place in 2014 with both schools operating independently from the Dovedale campus in the interim, with the future name of the school confirmed as Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery. Construction on a new, purpose-built inner-city building started in 2017 and was completed two years later. Since April 2019, the school has operated as Ao Tawhiti from the St Asaph location.


History

Ao Tawhiti was formed in 2014, by the merger of two schools which were each established by the Learning Discovery Trust. Originally they existed as two separate entities, known as Discovery 1 (primary) and Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti (secondary).


Early history

Under the direction and leadership of John Clough, the ''Alpha Learning Programme'' explored innovative and progressive learning theory in education for two years from 1993. In late 1998, following the creation of the 'Learning Lab' trial at Elmwood School, an application was lodged to then Minister of Education
Wyatt Creech Wyatt Beetham Creech (born 13 October 1946) is a retired New Zealand politician. He served as the 14th deputy prime minister of New Zealand in Jenny Shipley's National Party government from August 1998 to December 1999. Early life Creech was ...
, to construct a new school based on this education theory. The Ministry acknowledged the special character of the school concept and granted it a special character designation. Discovery 1 was established in 2001, followed by Unlimited in 2003. Both had been formed by Christchurch-based Learning Discovery Trust.


Unlimited 2003–2011

Unlimited started with just 40 students (dubbed the "foundation forty") as well as 7 staff. It opened in January 2003 at its site on
Cashel Street City Mall is the main pedestrian mall in the Christchurch Central City, central city of Christchurch, New Zealand, comprising two sections of Cashel Street plus the Bridge of Remembrance and one section of High Street. It is also known colloquia ...
. Unlimited was originally based on the first floor of the Southern Star House building (which housed shops on the ground floor) and later occupied the second floor as well. Ao Tawhiti claim that in 2003 a New Zealand business magazine named 'Unlimited' allegedly challenged the Unlimited school in relation to their name. The school claims it responded by renaming Unlimited to Unlimited Paenga Tawhiti, although few details about the case are given. In 2004, the construction of the Hallensteins Building (known as "Northern Tower" by those at the school) was established across from Unlimited's original premises on the corner of Cashel Street and High Street. It was built to help facilitate the growing number of students, which was upwards of 200 at the time. Students and staff moved into the building in 2005. Unlimited also expanded into the basement of The Crossing building that year, next door to the Southern Star Building. Unlimited's presence in the city centre was a core aspect of the school's student culture and philosophy to learning, and the building was important in the development of this culture. On 13 August 2007, students from Unlimited staged protests on Stewart Fountain, a public water feature dedicated to Sir Robertson Stewart situated near the school. The students criticised the council for moving in to demolish the fountain after Stewart had died earlier that day. As many as 30 students remained after school hours and attempted to stage a second protest throughout the night. Police reportedly decided to remove protesters, arresting thirteen people; nine were released for being under seventeen and were dealt with by Youth Aid. By 2008, Unlimited reached a maximum MOE roll of 400 students.


Discovery 2001–2011

Discovery was first based above a restaurant named 'The Loaded Hog' on Manchester Street. It began its first term with thirty students and eight staff. The following year the school increased by fifty new students. During the later years of the schools operation, Discovery 1 was based on the upper levels of The Crossing on the corner of
Colombo Street Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial Capital city, capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limit ...
and
Cashel Street City Mall is the main pedestrian mall in the Christchurch Central City, central city of Christchurch, New Zealand, comprising two sections of Cashel Street plus the Bridge of Remembrance and one section of High Street. It is also known colloquia ...
. It was accessible through the bus exchange and an adjacent multi-level car park. Although located on the same streets, students had no academic contact and were largely separated from Unlimited students due to the location of Discovery within the building, and limited accessibility. Despite this, the schools were often seen as sister schools as it was common for Discovery 1 students to move on to Unlimited, or have older siblings attending Unlimited. They would also share space if buildings were under maintenance or development so many staff and students were familiar to one another.


February 2011 Christchurch earthquake

Some students, staff and visitors were present in the Unlimited buildings during the 6.3 magnitude earthquake on 22 February 2011. A number of people, particularly students, were not present that day or had left the school the hour before the quake, due to many staff attending a paid union meeting in the Christchurch Town Hall. Discovery 1 was operating normally that day and had a regular attendance. At the time of the earthquake the school was on its lunch break and had a number of staff out, as well as a small group students on an unsupervised trust licence trip. The smaller number of staff in the building left the top floor absent of staff which lead to the students on that level waiting under tables for a number of minutes. The school grouped in the schools third floor assembly area. As they were there, a parent attempting to enter the school alerted several police officers on
Colombo Street Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial Capital city, capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limit ...
to the presence of the school and together entered the building to evacuate the school. The school then followed a predetermined plan to evacuate to
Christchurch Botanic Gardens The Christchurch Botanic Gardens, located in the Christchurch Central City, central city of Christchurch, New Zealand, were founded in 1863 when an English oak was planted to commemorate the solemnisation of the marriage of Edward VII of the Un ...
where parents would collect children. The small group of students on the unsupervised trust licence trip followed the same plan, eventually reuniting with the rest of the school. The Hallensteins Building (dubbed the "Northern Tower") had already suffered minor damage in the
2010 Canterbury earthquake The 2010 Canterbury earthquake (also known as the Darfield earthquake) struck the South Island of New Zealand with a moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.1 at on , and had a maximum perceived intensity of X (''Extreme'') on the Mercal ...
but was safe to use through to February 2011. After the
2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. New Zealand Daylight Time, local time (23:51 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the Canterbury Region ...
, the building was said to be structurally safe, but was demolished in 2012 allegedly at the will of the owners. The Southern Star Building was severely damaged, losing some of its front facade, as well as having a partially collapsed ceiling on the second floor. The building was demolished by 2013. Unlimited also occupied a basement area below The Crossing food court building which housed music rooms, a dance floor, and a woodwork area. In 2012 as part of the UC Quakebox project, an Unlimited staff member who was present on the day of the earthquake recounted entering the basement to check if any students were trapped after power had been lost, to find the area was flooding from burst pipes and the floor had become unstable. The basement area was closed following the events, and buildings which were connected to this section of The Crossing were de-constructed and rebuilt upon in the following years. Before demolition work began on the Unlimited buildings, John Mather (then the school director) announced that the school Board of Trustees had decided the school would not return to the site. Mather announced the school would consider rebuilding in the city in the future. Mather would retire from the role before rebuild plans were established.


Post-earthquake era (2011–2019)

Staff at Unlimited were presented with a Christchurch Earthquake Award in 2012 (one of 140 awarded to individuals and organisations nominated by the public) for the evacuation of hundreds of students from the city location, which was surrounded by damaged buildings and rubble, including the damaged façade of the Southern Star building itself. Because the schools were situated in the central business district (in what became the "red zone", an area made inaccessible to the public during demolition works) and due to the importance of the city environment to the style of learning and the student community, students at Unlimited and Discovery were significantly displaced. Unlimited and Discovery 1 were relocated to the Halswell Residential College campus in
Aidanfield Aidanfield is a suburb in the south-west of Christchurch, New Zealand, about from the city centre. The land, which had been owned by the Good Shepherd Sisters since 1886, now incorporates the Mount Magdala Institute and the St John of God ...
. Unlimited remained there throughout 2011 and 2012, while Discovery 1 continued to operate from the site. In April 2011, singer-songwriter
Imogen Heap Imogen Jennifer Jane Heap ( ; born 9 December 1977) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and entrepreneur. She is considered a pioneer in pop music, particularly electropop, and in music technology. While attending the ...
visited Christchurch to play a benefit show for the school. It was her only performance in the country that year, and all proceeds went towards the future costs of rebuilding the school. In January 2013, Unlimited relocated to the premises of the former Christchurch Teachers' College in Parkstone Avenue, Ilam, which later became part of the
University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...
. The school was located at the Wairarapa Block of the Dovedale Campus. The move was first announced in 2011 by John Mather (then director) who cited the lack of suitable spaces at the Halswell site. Mather retired from the role shortly after, where the school was then co-directed by Tanja Grzeta and Alastair Wells (formerly a senior lecturer at
Auckland University The University of Auckland (; Māori language, Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public university, public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the Unive ...
). Grzeta left the role after a cancer diagnoses and passed away in 2015. The Dovedale campus provided the school with on site facilities it didn't have prior. This saw a large rise in the participation of sports within the school. The school fielded teams in sports neither Unlimited or Discovery had prior. Lunchtime summer volleyball in the schools quad became a yearly regular, with students and staff participating. "Juniors vs Seniors" and "Students vs Staff" football games became annual events with much of the school participating or watching.


Merging of Discovery and Unlimited (2013–2014)

On 26 March 2013, Minister of Education
Hekia Parata Patricia Hekia Parata (born 1 November 1958) is a former New Zealand public servant, diplomat, and politician. After a career as a senior public servant, Parata was a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives, representing the Nationa ...
wrote to Unlimited and Discovery 1 with confirmation of a proposed merger between the schools. The decision was made as an outcome of the Ministry of Education's "Shaping Education" consultation. In November 2013, Steven Mustor was appointed the director of the merged school. He had previously worked as a learning advisor at Unlimited for seven years leading up to the 2011 earthquake. By January 2014, both schools would be merged into a single school for years 1 to 13 students. The school was temporarily named ''Unlimited Discovery Merged School''. An elected board governed the school within three months after the process was completed. In early March 2014 it was announced that the Board of Trustees had settled on a new name for the school, ''Ao Tawhiti'', with the motto "Unlimited discovery". On 15 April 2014, the Ministry of Education confirmed the name of the school as "Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery". From 2015, the school was split into two campuses bearing the names of each former school respectively, and continued to operate from the Dovedale campus following the merger, until 12 April 2019.


Rebuild and return to city (2017–2019)

Plans for the school to the return to the Christchurch CBD by 2017 were delayed, in part due to difficulties in securing land. The school had hoped to rebuild on High Street on the site of the former
Centra Building The Centra Building (also known as the Centra Hotel, United Bank Building and Holiday Inn Christchurch City Centre) was a former office tower and hotel in central Christchurch, New Zealand. It was designed by architect Peter Beaven in the post- ...
, then owned by Carter Group, but negotiations fell through. A spokesperson for the school board described the setback as "devastating". On 24 August 2016,
Nikki Kaye Nicola Laura Kaye (11 February 1980 – 23 November 2024) was a New Zealand politician who served as Deputy Leader of the New Zealand National Party and Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 22 May 2020 to 14 July 2020. Kaye served as the me ...
, then Associate Minister of Education announced that the revised site for Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery was to be 177 St Asaph Street. Building work began in late 2017, and cost approximately thirty-million New Zealand dollars. In early 2019, Ao Tawhiti had received strong interest as it neared the completion of its new building; applicants were placed in a ballot system due to high demand for places. The school planned to start with 570 students and increase to 670 by 2021. Students and staff farewelled the Dovedale campus days before the first term of the year ended on 12 April 2019, marking the last day at the temporary site. Ao Tawhiti reopened at the St Asaph street address on 29 April 2019, following the public school holiday, although students did not return until several days after.


Building design

The Ao Tawhiti building was designed by Stephenson & Turner Architects, and developed with Lewis Bradford, Aurecon, Tokin & Taylor, Beca and Aecom, Masterguard, and project managed by The Building Intelligence Group. It spans over 2200-square-metres and four-storeys with 5800-square-metres of space, designed to have a number of flexible spaces with interchangeable uses to serve up to 670 students. The ground floor is configured for technology and drama, with science and music facilities configurations on the first and second floors respectively. The technology and drama spaces are visible from street level, with the drama space doubling as a breakout space to the adjacent Mollett Street. The top floor houses a gymnasium and commercial-grade kitchen. Each floor above ground level has a large north facing balcony. The building features a central atrium that provides space for assembly and performances.


Ao Tawhiti (2019–present)

In 2020, Ao Tawhiti announced that Anita Yarwood would take over as director from 2021, replacing Mustor who had overseen the school during the post-quake period. In 2022, around 60 students participated in a network test as part of a project to provide free Wi-Fi internet in the Christchurch city centre. The project was coordinated by Enable. In 2023, Yarwood put in her resignation from the role, but revoked it five months later. In an interview, Yarwood cited burnout from being the first director of the merged school at its new premises, as well as challenges caused by the
2020 COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.


Enrolment

As of , Ao Tawhiti has roll of students, of which (%) identify as Māori. As of , the school has an
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of , placing it amongst schools whose students have socioeconomic barriers to achievement (roughly equivalent to decile 7 under the former
socio-economic decile In the education in New Zealand, New Zealand education system, decile was a key measure of socioeconomic status used to target funding and support schools. In academic contexts the full term "socioeconomic decile" or "socioeconomic decile band" wa ...
system).


Distinctive elements

* Students can follow their own pathways of learning. The school uses the term "self directed learning" to distinguish between learning taking place in a class and learning driven or directed by the student outside of a classroom setting. Often called
inquiry learning Inquiry-based learning (also spelled as enquiry-based learning in British English) is a form of active learning that starts by posing questions, problems or scenarios. It contrasts with traditional education, which generally relies on the teach ...
, this means that students can opt to work outside of classes and courses on their own passions and interests, drawing on resources and experts as needed. In practice the amount of time given over to this individual, and often independent, style of learning varies according to the interests and maturity of each student. * Teachers at the school are known as ''Learning Advisors''. They are responsible for running classes as well as running individual homebases, where they support each student. Each year, students are allowed to select their preferred homebase, which is distinguished largely by the learning advisor who runs it. * One of the school's guiding principles is "everyone's a teacher, everyone's a learner", which removes some arbitrary hierarchy and contributes to the model of mutual respect between staff and students. * The school year at Ao Tawhiti is divided into four terms. Students take courses in subjects for the duration of a term, or can enroll for longer periods up to a full academic year. * Students are vertically grouped in homebases (similar to form classes). Years 7–13 homebases have up to 16 students in them and Years 1–6 homebases have up to 21 students. * Teacher facilitated courses are offered for Year 1 – 6 children in all of the main subject domains. In addition, children are encouraged to carry out their own inquiries and to lead or opt into workshops or projects that are either initiated by themselves, other children, parents or teachers. From year 7 to year 13 a number of structured courses are offered and facilitated by teachers, and many of the courses contribute to achievement on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework such as NCEA. Classes are open to students of any age and students can work at whichever level of the curriculum that best serves their needs. Each student has an allocated weekly one-to-one time with their Learning Advisor. Mentoring is offered on some days in the morning and again in the afternoon. This time allows students to meet with subject teachers to get support on course based learning, independent based learning, and other curriculum opportunities not currently available in classes. * The school is resourced with high-end information and communications technology ( ICT), all students have the opportunity to gain qualifications in the New Zealand
National Certificate of Educational Achievement The National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) is the official secondary-school qualification in New Zealand. Phased in between 2002 and 2004, it replaced three older secondary-school qualifications. The New Zealand Qualifications A ...
(NCEA). There are a range of secondary school subjects on offer including
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
,
Mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
,
Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
,
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,
Computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, hardware and softw ...
,
Drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...
,
Dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
, and Physical and Outdoor education. In addition to these subjects, Ao Tawhiti offers a range of courses that are not normally provided at secondary schools. These include DJ performance and music production,
Holistic Holism is the interdisciplinary idea that systems possess properties as wholes apart from the properties of their component parts. Julian Tudor Hart (2010''The Political Economy of Health Care''pp.106, 258 The aphorism "The whole is greater than t ...
programmes,
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,
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and
Game design Game design is the process of creating and shaping the mechanics, systems, rules, and gameplay of a game. Game design processes apply to board games, card games, dice games, casino games, role-playing games, sports, Wargame (video games), war ga ...
. Courses provided by outside providers are also offered, for example Ao Tawhiti offers students the ability to participate in courses taught by Yoobee School of Design,
ARA Ara may refer to: Biology * ''Ara'' (bird), a genus of parrots * Ara (fish) (''Niphon spinosus''), a species of fish * L-arabinose operon, also known as ara Places * Ara (mountain), a mountain in Armenia * Ara, Armenia, a village in Armenia ...
and The
University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...
. The school also runs a programme in cooperation with the Canterbury Ballet School.


Notable students

* Corey Baker – classical and contemporary choreographer and named 2022 UK New Zealander of the Year *
Lucy Gray "Lucy Gray" is a poem written by William Wordsworth in 1799 and published in his ''Lyrical Ballads''. It describes the death of a young girl named Lucy Gray, who went out one evening into a storm. Background The poem was inspired by Wordsworth ...
– climate change activist and singer-songwriter * Rangimarie Te'evale-Hunt – Te Reo Māori in elevators * Nela Zisser – model and competitive eater


References


External links

*
Education Review Office (ERO) reports

Provider details
at
NZQA The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA; ) is the New Zealand government Crown entity tasked with administering educational assessment and qualifications. It was established by the Education Act 1989. NZQA administers the National Certi ...
{{Schools in Canterbury Educational institutions established in 2003 Secondary schools in Christchurch Christchurch Central City 2003 establishments in New Zealand