Amesbury - A Community School

I have often felt snowed under with work this term and quite cut off from the world by the weight of the work and the deadlines. However, looking out of the windows in the principals' office or the meeting room after school can be very therapeutic. There is often so much going on and it makes me very proud that we, as a school,  have welcomed this and contributed to it. We have a strong commitment to being a school that is connected to its community and we are making progress bit by bit.

The other Thursday I looked out the window and Liza Hodson's cricket team was practising (one of their last coaching sessions before the season's end), two North Wellington soccer teams were practising - one on the court and the other on the field. A handful of my own children had set up a couple of goals and were playing soccer. Children were scooting and skateboarding. Others were cycling. This hive of activity really made my heart sing. 

This is such a different neighbourhood from the one I moved into almost two years ago. When I arrived, I really wondered why the Ministry was building a school because I never saw any children! The suburb seemed deserted. One evening I went out walking and heard two children arguing - I felt such a sense of relief at how normal that sound was. But now, thanks to the opening of the shopping centre, the school and the Amesbury Hall, the community is very different and it is so wonderful to see so many people out and about and so many activities taking place within the Amesbury neighbourhood. 

The provision of a tennis net and outdoor soccer goals is an invitation to the community by the Board of Trustees to come in and make use of school facilities. This equipment represents a sizeable investment and the Board of Trustees talked about the financial risk of leaving the equipment out all the time for community use. However, the community has been exceptional and there have been few problems. By far the biggest issue has been people lined up waiting to use the equipment. I cannot believe how much use both the tennis net and the soccer goals get. It's pretty continuous. I have noticed that there seems to be a bit of a protocol related to the use of the tennis nets. While one group is using the nets, another group practices volleying on the empty part of the courts. We wondered if we would need to set up a booking system. But no need - it seems to have sorted itself.

I am becoming more and more convinced that a return to the idea of neighbourhood communities and "commons" - land/buildings (facilities) that are for shared use by the community - is an essential part of creating a sustainable future for our children but is also central to 21st century learning.

Within even small communities are a huge range of resources that can be accessed by the school without even travelling very far. Equally, the school is a rich resource that can be accessed by the community. I do not believe that it has been sustainable for a long time to have buildings and land used only during school time for school activities. I am a very firm advocate for schools being "multi purpose" facilities. Modern learning environments are particularly suited for this. However, this does require flexibility and a willingness to share. We are learning a lot about how this is done.

One of our arguments for recapitation is that we are a community school. Rather than limiting the opportunities we can provide, this opens up a huge range of opportunities to be accessed within our own community in a way that is not possible for a very large school. Education forecasting has suggested that schools with the organisational flexibility to access local and wider community resources will be advantaged in the future. We hope to be among those who are able to be responsive to opportunities as they present themselves, while also supportong the growth of a very strong Amesbury community for all.