Visit to St Therese Primary School, Torquay

Today i visited St Therese Primary School, just over the road from the Torquay Primary School. St Therese is a catholic school, and is alot smaller than Torquay Primary, having only 350 students.

I was shown around the classrooms and grounds by 3 helpful students, who gave me the rundown of what took place were, and how the school operated.

The grade 5-6 building has 4 classrooms surrounding a central communal area. This central area is used for when all classes join for meetings etc. The entire space can turn into one big room by sliding the doors back. Mr Hindson, a grade 5-6 teacher, said that this shared learning environment means that students have to learn to be respectful to others in terms of keeping quite and sharing spaces.

Each prep-2 classroom is set up in a similar manner, but they also have an outdoor courtyard for each classroom, which includes herb gardens and worm farms.

Then i had a meeting with Mrs Audley, the schools principle. She explained the proposed new development for the school were they are getting rid of the old portables that the grade 3-4s currently use. Mrs Audley lead me through the brief she had given the architect and it was interesting to note her view of how the school should be designed and operated. Mrs Audley said that the schools primary function is to provide spaces that enhance learning and interaction with other students.