After a false start in August 2021 (thanks Covid-19), we were pleased to get our Business @ Breakfast series back off the ground this month with Chamber Member House of Science.

We really enjoyed the more intimate form of networking that this event provided in 2021, and our 2022 event was no different.

With a small group of interested, eager attendees, our hosts House of Science put on a great spread of breakfast treats and a great spread of science experiments, to better understand how they’re helping school students every day.

House of Science is a charitable trust with a clear goal: To ensure EVERY child in Aotearoa is scientifically literate. That doesn’t mean every child is a scientist, but it means that every child develops the critical thinking skills that will support them to have a healthy curiosity of the world around them.

The Judea location is House of Science’s national office, where the team manage its 18 branches around New Zealand. At HQ, they design and develop new science resources for our tamarki, and try to keep up with the demand for science kits in schools – they are always developing new and interesting kits to ensure students are getting relevant, engaging education tools.

As the organisation’s chair Kirstin Mead says: “Our country’s future economy depends on innovative advancement, and we are doing our bit to ensure Aotearoa has a scientifically literate workforce with the necessary skills to embrace and support this future.”

What was most fascinating was that the Ministry of Education doesn’t fund science resources like this, and while this is a complex discussion, it certainly provides an ongoing challenge for House of Science to continue to find funders as they grow to support more children.

The adults certainly enjoyed their time on the tools, using digital microscopes to view bugs up close, understanding how important it is for a good hand wash, seeing physics in action and much more. It was a great learning process, as well as lots of fun, so imagine how good this is for our children!

Thank you to House of Science founder Chris Duggan and her team for hosting this wonderful event. If you’d like to know more or want to find out how you can support them, check out the website.

Our next Business @ Breakfast is with Volunteering Bay of Plenty at their new premise in Newton Street, Mount Maunganui. This is free for Chamber Members to attend. You can book here.