Creating Shelter for the New Entrant Classroom

In 2024, as part of its commitment to supporting local communities, Archgola launched a special mid-winter giveaway, offering three custom-designed canopies to deserving schools and clubs across New Zealand. This initiative aimed to enhance outdoor spaces, providing much needed shelter for students and members to enjoy year-round, via individual nominations.

Norfolk School, has approximately 150 children attend, and is situated near Inglewood and twenty minutes from New Plymouth. Norfolk School was selected as the Lower North Island region winner. Their nomination, submitted by Victoria Poulgrain, highlighting the need for shade.  “We are a fabulous country school with large open outdoor spaces, but unfortunately we have very little shade where the children sit to eat lunch or the young children play outside the classroom with the water trays and outside games. Last summer, I put up, and took down a gazebo daily to protect my 5 year old students from the harmful rays of the sun” she wrote.

The Archgola Tarankai team worked with the school to design a solution that provided shade to the outside of classrooms for lunch breaks and play. A sleek straight canopy was chosen to complement the school’s building.

Norfolk School Principal, Jim McArthur, was delighted to be selected as the region’s winner.

“The resulting Archgola has given us the flexible space outside our new entrant classroom that we needed. It serves as sun protection for our youngest tamariki to play outdoors and also as rain shelter for parents arriving to pick up their children.”

• Jim McArthur, Principal, Norfolk School

Archgola has over 25 years’ experience providing shade and shelter for schools and early childhood centres. If your school or early childhood centre is looking for shade solutions we’d love you to get in touch.