Last month, we visited the Raumati Technology Centre, who have added papermaking to their curriculum this year. The centre, located in Raumati on the Kāpiti Coast, delivers the technology curriculum to year 7 & 8 students from 11 Kāpiti primary schools. Groups from each school attend about 6 weeks of lessons at the centre each year, rotating through the different teaching areas including food, science, woodwork, electronics, film, arts, textiles and sustainability. The centre purchased a range of mould and deckle sets from us at the beginning of the year, as well as scheduling deliveries of our harakeke pulp throughout the year.
Working with groups of 10-14 students at a time, their lessons include an introduction to the history of paper, as well as a look at environmental issues associated with industrial paper production and use. Students then make a few sheets of paper themselves, choosing from three different batches of pulp – recycled newspaper pulp, coloured tissue pulp, and our harakeke / NZ flax pulp. They have the choice of making A5 sheets of paper, envelopes, and gift tags. Once the paper is dry, students again have a choice of activities – a popular one has been to write a letter to themselves in the future, and then sealing the letter with a traditional wax seal. Other options include decorating their paper with stencils and stamps or using it for printing.
Anne-Marie Doucet, who teaches the papermaking lessons as part of the STEAM and sustainability programme at the centre, says papermaking has been very popular with the students and was a useful activity to start conversations about sustainability. “I like using the locally produced harakeke pulp, and to show the students what is possible with locally and sustainably made materials”. Anne-Marie is planning to make papermaking one of the regular activities at the centre going forward.
We love seeing young people get into papermaking and are excited about how well it meshes with the technology curriculum as well as a range of other STEAM subjects. It is an activity that can be tailored to all ages, from Early Childhood Education through to NCEA, and lends itself to both one-off experiential sessions and multi-session in-depth inquiry.
If you’re a teacher keen to see papermaking at your school or ECE, please get in touch! We can support you by providing anything from professional development to facilitated sessions and the supply of materials and resources.
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