House of Science Wairarapa general manager Amanda Taylor shows off the resource kits. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
ELI HILL
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Science in primary and intermediate schools throughout Wairarapa is getting a boost with the introduction of House of Science Wairarapa.
House of Science provides teachers with the equipment and knowledge to deliver hands-on, interactive, and exciting science experiences for their classes.
Each resource kit comes with four to six complete lessons on one topic, and the kits contain everything a teacher needs for a class of up to 30 pupils, including all the consumables for each experiment.
Wairarapa has nine resource kits with the aim to build on that number through sponsors.
The programme also links to Maori as Aotearoa’s first scientists by linking Maori myths and legends to the science topic.
House of Science plans to work with iwi to include Wairarapa stories in the kits to enable teachers to link courses to the area.
The delivery, collection and replenishment of the kits by volunteers saves teachers preparation time, and allows them to access equipment not supplied in their schools, as well as saving them buying the resources from their own pockets.
The House of Science will also offer professional learning and development to teachers in schools that use the resource kits as part of their membership.
As a charitable trust, House of Science Wairarapa relies on a mixture of grants and business sponsorship as well as a small contribution from schools to cover its costs.
The service is supported by Carterton District Council, South Wairarapa District Council, Masterton District Council, Trust House Foundation, and the Community Organisation Grant Scheme.
With each kit costing $2500 a year, business support is crucial to House of Science’s aim to reach every school in the Wairarapa and Tararua districts.
General manager Amanda Taylor is passionate about science, and has a doctorate in molecular medicine, but it is her three young children who motivated her to bring the initiative to Wairarapa.
Anyone interested in helping as a volunteer or businesses interested in sponsorship can contact Amanda Taylor at: [email protected]
