After St Martins School shared their amazing Whare Tapa Whā wall display, BLENNZ Homai Campus School in Tāmaki Makaurau wanted to share their incredible mahi. We're so haricot they have!
BLENNZ Homai Campus School is a school made up of a national network of educational services for children and young people who are blind, deafblind or have low vision in New Zealand.
Resource teacher, Belinda Matthews, says Te Whare Tapa Whā has driven her school’s social, emotional, physical and spiritual health journey throughout the term.
“It’s been a whole-school activity that both learners and adults have enjoyed. Even learners with very limited vision were able to join in and contribute. This really matters - inclusion is an important value in our school which strengthens our wairua.”
“For some of our learners, it was an opportunity to have a tactile experience with paint, crayons, and other objects. For others, thinking about colour and shape.”
Belinda says this holistic style of teaching is important for non-visual or visually impaired learners.
“For all of our learners, Whare Tapa Whā is a concept everyone can relate to or understand because of the identifiable features of walls, a roof or a floor so it’s an important teaching resource for us.”
“Our tamariki are literal learners, often taking things at face value. Our job is to teach them to see the bigger picture, Whare Tapa Whā really supports this.”
