Class act for teenage mums

ANDY JACKSON/Taranaki Daily News

PURPOSE-BUILT: Young mum Emma Doyle with her daughter Briar in front of the building for young mums at Stratford High School.

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First there was the soccer clubrooms, then an old police station, now Taranaki's teenage mums have their lessons in a million-dollar purpose-built facility.

The Stratford Teen Parent Unit was officially opened this week with teachers and pupils welcoming the space, convenience and attractiveness of the building in the grounds of Stratford High School.

TPU head teacher Malcolm Harding said the unit had begun eight years ago in the Swansea Rd soccer clubrooms, but the classroom setting would have to be dismantled each time and sometimes an impromptu weekend party left the place smelling like a brewery.

Then the unit moved to the former Stratford police station, a cold, small facility two kilometres away from an associated early childhood centre.

"So if a mother was breast-feeding her baby we would have to put her in the van and drive her down to the centre.

"It was most inconvenient and a lot of the girls were not happy to be away from their baby when they were very young," Mr Harding said.

The new unit now accommodates up to 30 students, compared with its previous roll of 20, and has an early childhood facility on site called Koru Kindergarten.

Emma Doyle, 19, said it was easier to get on with work knowing your baby was next door and "you can pop in to check on them."

Ellen Morris, 17, who began as a pregnant teen at the unit last year, was happy to continue breastfeeding because kindergarten staff were now on hand to help.

Teacher Tracey Burnell said the old rooms had put prospective students off and may have contributed to a lack of retention among some students. "It was not an inviting place to come to."

The open plan layout of the new unit made teaching easier because it was easy to see when staff were available to help students out.

Mr Harding said the TPU, now called Whaimana ako, is among 20 that operate around the country. It's the only Ministry of Education unit in Taranaki and has three vans that collect students from New Plymouth, Hawera, Stratford and places in between.

- © Fairfax NZ News