The school is held during school terms, one day a week from 9:00 am to 2:45 pm, at a variety of locations in the Richmond, Nelson and Tasman.

Nelson & Richmond

Location: 173 Rutherford St in Nelson and Holy Trinity Church, 27 Dorset Street, Richmond.

• Little STEAMerS (ages 5-6) Nelson (Wed/Thur)
• STEAMS Jr (ages 7-9) Richmond(Wed) and Nelson (Tues/Thurs/Fri)
• STEAMS Sr (ages 10-13) Richmond(Wed) and Nelson (Tues/Fri)
• STEAMS Specialised  (ages 9-14)  Nelson (Wed)

Blenheim

Location: Waterlea Racecourse, Mayfield, Blenheim

• Little STEAMERs (ages 5-6) Tuesday
• STEAMS Jr (ages 7-9) Tuesday
• STEAMS Snr (ages 9-14) Thursday

Visit our Humanitix page and register your tamariki for STEAMS School.

Please choose the site and then the class and age group they wish to attend. Please note that the registrations will close for each term after the second week.

We welcome all tamariki to find out if STEAMS school is right for them.  The characteristics that will enable your child to get the most out of STEAMS school include:

• Students who have an enquiring mind and a thirst for knowledge
• Students who are willing to sustain concentration and effort
• Students who want to actively contribute to a positive learning environment

All new students attend a three week trial (which you pay for, and attend in a block) then if both family and teacher feel there is a mutual fit for the child in the class they continue for the rest of the term and you are billed appropriately.

You will need to inform the child’s school that he or she will be at STEAMS School one day per week. To date we have not encountered any issues around accommodating a child’s participation in STEAMS School, and many of the region’s schools are very supportive of the programme.

We understand there has been some new concern about how student’s attendance at STEAMS school is being recorded due to the attendance reforms mandated by the government, and we are committed to supporting you and your child in attending STEAMS school without any penalty. We encourage you to meet with your child’s principal to discuss the benefits of the STEAMS program, which can significantly enhance your child’s in-school achievement and confidence, helping them feel valued and motivated to attend school more regularly. With your principal’s support, recording your child’s attendance can be more straightforward.

Most recently, Jude Fawcett <Jude.Fawcett@education.govt.nz> who was excellent to speak to responded to the attendance query this way:

“What is important is:

• That schools should be advising parents of the code for attendance at your One Day School – rather than parents telling a school to record their child as present
• That if a school is unaware of what to do then they should be contacting their local Ministry of Education office – in particular their Senior Education Officer
• That schools have discretion as to whether they use:

• Code J – Explained and Approved – the student is absent
• Code E – Explained but not Approved – the student is absent
• Code Q – Board Approved Off site learning – the student is present

• A school may choose to use any of these codes – a Board / Principal decision
• You and your parent may find that not all school choose the same code – mostly due to recent MoE requirements for teaching the curriculum”

It is also worth noting that,

Under the Education and Training Act of 2020,

Section 52 states:
52 Release from tuition for outside tuition or if good reasons to leave early

The principal of a State school or person responsible for teaching and learning in a charter school may,—

(a) if satisfied that the student is to receive outside the school tuition acceptable to the principal or person responsible for teaching and learning in a charter school, release a student from attendance at the school, for a period or periods agreed with a parent of the student, to receive the tuition (and, as appropriate, travel between the school and the place where the tuition is to be given):

(b) let a student leave early on a particular day if satisfied that—

(i) the student has, on the day on which the school was open for instruction, been present at the school for 4 hours or more; and

(ii) there are good reasons for the student to leave before the school closes on the day.

And

Section 53 states:

53 Courses, work experience, and visits outside school premises

(1) A board or sponsor may authorise any students to undertake courses of education, gain work experience, or make visits outside the school premises.

(2) If authorisation is given, the student must be treated as attending the school while undertaking the course, gaining the experience, or making the visit.

(3) A principal or person responsible for teaching and learning in a charter school, a teacher, or an occupier of a workplace may not allow a student to go into, or remain in, a workplace to gain work experience except in accordance with any conditions prescribed by the Minister by notice.

(4) A student who is in any workplace to gain work experience is to be treated as being employed by the workplace, and every enactment and collective agreement (to the extent that it relates to the health, safety, and welfare of workers) applies to the student and the occupier of the workplace accordingly.

(5) However, subsection (4) does not—

(a) entitle a student to be paid; or

(b) require a student to join or belong to a union; or

(c) entitle a student to enter or remain in a workplace; or

(d) require any person to pay a levy, fee, or charge of any kind.

(6) A notice under subsection (3) is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).