Te Unua enriches local learning

‍A ‘soft launch’ of the educational programmes set to be explored at Southland’s new regional museum is underway.

‍Physical construction of Te Unua Museum of Southland, in Invercargill, is on schedule to be completed later this year, with the first visitors to the new regional museum set to be welcomed into the space after its official opening in 2027.

‍Te Unua Museum of Southland senior educator Suzanne Spencer said she had been working with ākoka (students) at Windsor North School, visiting the Invercargill primary school to deliver the first of the new regional museum’s education units currently under development.

‍About 60 children, across four classrooms within the Windsor North junior syndicate, were the first to experience the Kaitiakitaka unit – giving them an opportunity to build upon their previous classroom learning, by categorising creatures from mammals to reptiles, vertebrates, and invertebrates.

‍“The kids were just so excited, they absolutely loved the opportunity to get up close with the specimen trays and see lots of things that they typically just don’t get to see in real life. Even just getting out the magnifying glasses really brought their previous learning to life – and that’s the beauty of what Te Unua will bring in terms of enriching the education of our tamariki and rangatahi,” Spencer said.

Windsor North School deputy principal Jan Forde said the educational programme had added expertise and knowledge of the national science curriculum to the students’ learning, which focused their discoveries to specific year-level content.

‍“The children have absolutely loved the hands-on learning and the exciting topics. They’ve also been really excited about having access to great resources in-person as they learn about classifying animals and plants,” she said.

‍“The programme has been such a valuable resource, and so appreciated in our busy school days. Suzanne is really enthusiastic about the topics she teaches, and she shares that enthusiasm with the students. We have really appreciated the opportunity to engage with the outreach programme, to support learning across so many curriculum areas.”

Spencer said the first stage of the Kaitiakitaka educational unit would be followed by further learning about plant life – including what they needed to live and thrive, classifying the parts of the plants, and more – with the overall theme of the unit exploring how we look after the natural world around us.

‍“There is a huge amount of work that goes on in the background to develop every unit within an educational programme to enhance the foundations they have already begun to build. It’s important to look at the curriculum to determine what aspects of that are going to really benefit with some extra hands-on learning opportunities,” she said.

Spencer joined the team at Te Unua at the start of 2026, after a decade working in primary education.

‍With a Master’s degree in contemporary education and a post-graduate certificate in teaching English to speakers of other languages – and having attended a small, rural Southland school herself – she was acutely aware of the role a regional museum could play in enriching the knowledge of the region’s tamariki.

‍ “I went to Ryal Bush Primary School, and we had about 23 kids in the whole school. Coming into the museum classroom is still a real core memory for me – and it’s incredibly exciting to be part of reintroducing that to our young people going into the future. Our museums play such an integral role in making learning real,” Spencer said.

The new museum’s educational programme would be developed with a variety of audiences, ages, and stages in mind, with learning specific to early childcare, primary, and senior students to be complemented by programmes designed for adult learners, at-risk youth, community organisations, and others, she said.

“Places like museums play a really important role in sparking engagement and connection, especially among children or people who might otherwise not enjoy traditional learning. They’re the ones who really interest me – the ones who don’t or didn’t find school easy – so it’s about trying to find stories that are going to really resonate with lots of different people,” she said.