Page 12 - Woods Funiture Lookbook

Catering to students at all

levels far and wide

Te Akau Ki Papamoa School

Paula Jamieson is Assistant Principal of Te Akau ki Papamoa School We also needed a company that could custom make furniture for
in New Zealand and currently facilitates a dedicated Makerspace us as we had a clear idea of what we needed but knew this was
where every teacher and all 700 students get the opportunity to code, not available as standard.
design, make, create, tinker and reflect.
We saw this space as being fluid and the furniture within it needed to
As this space was a renovation of an existing building we needed adapt to constant change and rearrangement to be fit for purpose.
to make the most of what we had. Structurally a length of the load Our experience with Woods (and more specifically with Mark Divehall)
bearing bay walls had to remain so these were then utilised as was positive from start to finish.
‘designated’ areas eg High Tech, Low Tech and Making.
I had a very clear picture in my mind of how I wanted the room to
The size and flexibility of furniture within this space was also vitally
look, right down to the colour palette and Mark not only found what I
important as all learners would use the space and we needed to be
wanted but also challenged me to think differently and consider other
able to move furniture around with ease.
options which I appreciated.
There are 4 or 5, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and When both students and adults walk in to the room they comment
Mathematics) based challenge stations operating at once in this space.
on the colour of the unit and when they slide the boxes out from
Our New Entrants and Year 1’s rotate to complete all tasks giving them underneath with their lockable wheels they are in awe of the
the opportunity to experience all disciplines thus developing and functionality and I’m thrilled to see my concept come to fruition
igniting their passions. thanks to Woods.

All other Year groups, 2,3,4,5 and 6 choose their station during each I would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Woods to
session, these are often interdisciplinary. other schools.
We also facilitate lunchtime LEGO clubs, ART clubs and run passion Educators are busy people and to have a company that have an
driven projects (we currently have a Year 3 group building an Igloo extensive range of quality products and are great communicators,
and a Year 5/6 group turning spools into ‘directed play stations’). who show up when they say they will, who deliver when they say they
will and who actually go the extra mile, what more could you ask for?
When choosing furniture for this space we specifically looked for
quality, flexibility (eg heights and suitability for what age levels) and
adaptability (we needed pieces to be used in multiple ways).

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