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Wai Tech Hub connects young people with community and purpose
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In central Rolleston, a community-based hub is helping 18 to 21-year-olds transition into adulthood through work experience, life skills and a sense of belonging. The Wai Tech Hub supports young people with additional learning needs to carve out confident futures and feel right at home.
In the heart of Rolleston’s bustling main street, near Te Ara Ātea public library and the popular skateboard park, you’ll find a group of 18 to 21-year-olds carving out their place in the Canterbury community.
They attend Wai Tech Hub, a specialist education facility designed to connect young people from Selwyn with their community in a safe and structured environment, through opportunities for work experience and future employment. Everything is about supporting young learners to feel included in their community.
The Wai Tech Hub journey started five years ago when Waitaha School principal Maureen Allan and her staff saw that their young learners had outgrown the school’s base. They needed their own space, which would empower them to move forward into their future and find their place in the community.
The Ministry of Education worked with them to find a suitable location. The Selwyn Rugby Clubrooms provided a valuable short-term solution.
While the space wasn’t quite the right size to fully support the range of programmes they wanted to deliver, Stephanie, Waitaha assistant principal, says they made it work and kept their focus on supporting their young people.
As it was a shared facility, the team packed down the space at the end of each day to accommodate other community users.
“The facilitators really rose to the challenge, showing that it isn’t just about the space, it’s the people and passion behind the programme,” says Maureen.
Grand Central Station
At the beginning of term 1 this year, the community moved into the central Rolleston Hub, a space generously offered by Rolleston School. Now, at the heart of the community, they are seeing incredible growth for their young people.
Maureen says the space is like Grand Central Station. Every day, the young people are active in the local and wider Selwyn community, undergoing work experience and further educational opportunities at Ara or the National Trade Academy.
“This new space truly supports the way we envisioned our young people growing, thriving and succeeding,” says Stephanie.
“They’re becoming more independent and confident in problem solving, taking on challenges and moving around the community.”
Each learner attending the hub has their own tailored programme. The work experience coordinator helps link them with community opportunities creating a career pathway.
One student who loves their work experience placement at a doggy daycare is now setting up their own dog walking and grooming business and another is enrolled at the National Trade Academy, completing her equine certificate.
“We try and tie their passions and what they want out of life with realistic work goals,” says Stephanie. Importantly, the community is including them.
Several young people mow the lawns and tend to the gardens of local churches. The pastor gave them a job description, conducted an interview and then provided a contract beforehand to mirror the realistic employment process. The team created their own business identity, screen-printing their ‘Green Warriors’ logo onto hi-vis vests.
Being based in the heart of Rolleston has helped the learners feel truly included in their community, connected, visible, and with a strong sense of agency as they are right in the middle of it.
“Feeling connected to the whenua adds another layer to everything that we are doing,” says Maureen.
“We don’t want people to make assumptions about our young people just because they might talk or behave differently. We want them to be embraced and welcomed, not excluded.”
Maureen recalls a moment when three young people left the hub without notifying staff. They were later found at the library, one student was playing games, another student was conversing with the librarian about music, and the other was searching for books on the computer.
While they were absolutely allowed to be there, Maureen says they had conversations with them and they were asked to let the Wai Tech staff know when they wanted to leave the Hub.
The connection with the local library runs deeper than just this one moment. The Waitaha community provided feedback for the library’s redesign, specifically its sensory garden, with this initiative seeing Waitaha win the ‘Inclusion and Diversity’ and ‘People’s Choice’ Awards at the Selwyn Business Awards in 2021, and again in 2023.
Next steps
Wai Tech has now acquired a block of land that will eventually be the home of a purpose-built community hub.
“We’re patient, though,” says Maureen. “And the longer it takes, the more we’re learning exactly what we need this building to look like for our learners.”
They hope the hub will eventually become the heart of the Rolleston community.
“We want to grow these young people on the path that they want to move forward on and always feel a part of their home community,” says Stephanie.
Maureen sees the Wai Tech Hub as a true gift to the community.
“We’re breaking down barriers of misunderstanding simply by showing up and being part of everyday life,” she says. “You’ll see us out and about in the supermarket, going to the gym, the swimming pool, the shops, and walking about the town. We’re part of the community.”
