Ākonga slide into design mode to celebrate local fun

Class miro were the first members of the public to ride the new attraction.

To promote two new hydroslides, Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools & Spa ran a competition asking Canterbury ākonga to show off their creativity and teamwork. 

The task? Design, build, and showcase a ball run made from whatever materials ākonga could find. Ākonga could use marbles, tennis balls, footballs, or any-sized ball so long as it traversed a creative, well-designed coaster featuring twists, turns, water and a dazzling finish. 

Lincoln Primary School in Selwyn, Canterbury was one of the many schools that used the competition as a great teaching and learning opportunity.

“They had such a good time. It was amazing,” says Samara Brown, kaiako at Lincoln Primary School. 

Samara’s Year 3 and 4 ākonga designed, built, and presented an immense ball run that earned them the competition’s first place prize: a class trip to Hanmer Springs, and the chance to be the first children to ride the new hydroslides.

“We weren’t even able to take a photo of the entire thing,” says Samara. “It went from one corner of the classroom, out the door and down the stairs and then into our principal’s office.

“As soon as [Hanmer] announced the competition, the ākonga said, ‘Right, how do we get there? Are we going on the bus? What happens when we get on the bus?’” laughs Samara.

“That ‘we can do anything’ mindset ... that was a real proud moment as a teacher; to see everything we teach day to day come out in that competition.”

Diversity of ideas

Shane Adcock is the marketing manager at Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools & Spa. He helped coordinate the competition and says the response from Canterbury schools could not have been better.

“We had 50 entries. That was a really good response in terms of numbers. It might not sound like a lot ... but you’ve got to think, that’s 50 classes that have taken the time to do this, that’s a lot of students getting involved.” 

Shane also says that he was thrilled, not only with the number of schools that took part, but by the diversity of ideas displayed by Canterbury students. 

Ākonga from Lincoln Primary School’s class miro attend the opening ceremony of Hanmer Spring’s newest hydroslide.

“We had one submission where their ball run glowed in the dark,” he explains. “So they obviously did a lot of work with the design there. We also had a ball run that went for a very, very long time outside using all sorts of objects like stormwater pipes.” 

Shane says the variety of designs showcased art, construction, and science skills that students got to apply to a fun, hands-on project. Encouraging students to use these skills from a variety of disciplines was, ultimately, one of the key educational objectives of this challenge. 

Samara was also impressed to see how ākonga applied in-classroom learning to the contest. She was, however, particularly excited to see the ways in which Lincoln Primary School’s values were showcased throughout the project. 

“Two of our values are integrity and respect,” she says. “Straight away, ākonga said that we need to make sure that we’re listening to each other’s ideas, that everybody has a say.

“We have a lot of ākonga who love creating; then there are problem solvers; and then there were those who were happy to be directed the whole time, so it was very collaborative.”

One way this collaborative, inclusive approach influenced the class’ ball run was the incorporation of students’ favourite parts of the pools, including an iconic tuatara-shaped slide and a large bucket of water that periodically tips over bathers. 

Balance of student agency

From the start, Samara says her class were determined to work together.

Though her class was often happy to direct themselves in building, recording, and submitting their ball run project, Samara adds that the task carried some important challenges for her as a kaiako. 

“With 58 ākonga having 58 ideas and voices, we did need to have a little bit of teacher involvement,” she says. 

Samara adds that a key part of the teaching experience was knowing when to step in and help ākonga realise when their ideas weren’t working. At this point, she had to encourage ākonga consider the perspectives of their peers.

“When you’re managing that many ākonga,” says Samara, “you have to make sure you give them a balance of student agency which helps them collaborate and express their ideas, while also teaching them when it’s OK to step back and have some flexible thinking.”

Inclusion, perseverance and determined optimism ensured class miro’s ball run received the top spot.

Canterbury ākonga had until the last days of term 3 to design, build and submit videos of their ball runs. For some schools, kaiako are seldom able to commit class time to large, multi-day projects like these. Though Samara still believes that these initiatives are always worth it for the ways they enrich the lives of all involved.

“I think it’s hugely important to take the risk and try to give your ākonga these opportunities,” she says. 

“There were ākonga in our class who had never been to Hanmer Springs,” continues Samara.

“We gave this opportunity to a range of ākonga who possibly wouldn’t have been able to even go. They haven’t stopped talking about it since. It comes up daily in our classroom programme.

Class miro’s ball run ran the length of the classroom, down the hall and into the principal’s office.

“We saw lots of different student friendship circles melting into one and it didn’t matter who you were standing beside. We were all working together to the same goal. It was really heart-warming.”

Students devoted the last weeks of term to their project.