Tuesday 25 May, 2021

School of Creative Industries - Project update

Kia ora koutou

As you are all well aware there are currently many moving parts across the School of Creative Industries. Today I'm sharing an update on progress in the various work streams and providing some clarity on a number of challenges we currently face.

BPSA programme 'Delivery and Design Workstream' and offsite locations

• Delivery model options: Charene, Aroha and your Discipline Leaders have been working on potential options for the continued delivery of the Acting and Dance Pathways from 2022 onwards. Analysis work has been completed and we've narrowed down our potential delivery models. I would like to thank Charene, Bronwyn, Paul, Michael and Daniel for their tireless work to get us to this point. I know it's been hard to see the School’s ‘True North’ with so many unknowns, so thank you for your work in investigating the various options.

• Presentation to programme teams: The delivery model options have been presented to the steering group and are now ready for a walk-through and open forum hui with the BPSA programme team. We will coordinate a time to for staff to meet together to discuss the proposed options.

• Stakeholder engagement: Along with our Industry Workforce Development team, we’re engaging with internal and external stakeholders to discuss delivery options. The ELT will ultimately review the options in July. While we are still to land on a preferred option, this will be decided by the leadership team in the coming weeks.

•  Offsite delivery locations: Investigative work has commenced to scope potential spaces and locations for offsite delivery of dance and acting. Our aim is to complete this work in early June, with initial financial costings submitted to the steering group. Thank you to everyone involved in this workstream.

• Business Plan submission: The steering group is preparing to submit a business case to ELT at the end of June 2021 outlining options for consideration regarding our BPSA programme. Please see here a high-level plan, including a timeline of key events. 

Building 108 update 

• Funding approval: I am delighted to inform you that the Board, Te Pūkenga and the Ministry of Education have all approved the funding required (approximately $24million) to complete B108, which will include a modern, open-plan space for School staff and learners.
• Building progress: Work on the build site is progressing well and the ELT had a walk-through of the building earlier this month. Our project timelines and milestones are on track for delivery from Semester 1, 2022.
• Final design consultation of B108: We are nearing the final stages of the detailed design sessions for both the DCA and Screen requirements. A lot of work has been put into this design thinking and I would like to acknowledge the mahi of Daniel, Emma, William, Michael, Charene and Samuel to ensure the requirements reflect the delivery of programmes, requirements for staff, and the needs of our learners.
• New 'Ways of Working': Over the coming months our project team will send information around new ways of working. We realise moving into the modern, open-plan spaces in B108 will be a change for many staff so please take time to visit other Schools that now work in similar spaces such as Trades and Services and Computing, Electrical and Applied Technology, and consider how the new space will work for you. Please discuss with your APM about arranging visits to other teams and spaces.

Preparing for the School move into B108

The leadership team is working with the B108 project team to prepare for the move into B108 and potential offsite delivery locations. In the meantime, a couple of points to note are:

• School equipment and assets: Our project lead is working with Charene, Daniel and the Finance team to understand PASA's list of formal assets and the processes around non-listed assets. We know that we will have props, costumes, and technical equipment to be retired and sold or discarded and this needs to be completed through a managed process. Please touch base with Daniel in the meantime if you have any questions.
• Clearing out your personal spaces: Please start considering what isn’t required for our move to B108. We simply do not have the space to take everything acquired over many years of delivery. Over the next few weeks, the Infrastructure team will organise large bins for staff to start discarding resources not required for the move. Thank you all in advance as we prepare for the move later in the year.

Finally, thank you once again for continuing to work through this period of significant disruption and for keeping the needs of our learners at the forefront of all that you do. If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to me or Aroha, or keep in touch with Vanessa or your APM. As promised, we will keep you informed of progress across our various workstreams.

Kā nui te mihi ki a tātou.katoa

Ngā manaakitanga

Nick Sheppard
DCE - Schools and Performance