Te Puāwaitanga o te Wairua

Purposes:  The Why

• For Matipo Primary School to maintain Maori Tikanga that have been developed and nurtured for many generations.
• To engage our school and the wider community through acknowledging the Treaty of Waitangi offering opportunities to learn Te Reo Maori me nga tikanga Maori in a classroom where Te Ao Maori is acknowledged first
• For Maori to maintain the integrity of their culture
• Co­-constructing meaningful and culturally relevant projects with Māori students and whānau
• Improving pedagogical teacher leadership in terms of cultural responsiveness
• Utilising whānau expertise, knowledge and capabilities
• Connecting projects with literacy and numeracy programmes to accelerate learning

Philosophy and Rationale:

• Culture cannot be learned from a textbook.
• True understanding and appreciation is possible only from experience.
• Our school is our marae.
• It is our family home for learning of many generations, in the past, present and in the future.
• Accelerating Māori student achievement through deepening cultural responsiveness
• Improve cultural responsive pedagogies and capabilities in our staff and students
• Strengthen students identity, language and culture through culturally rich activities in a Maori bilingual class
• Using a collaborative inquiry approach, teachers who drive this class can work together
• Develop lead teacher capacity as cultural change agents
• Students and whanau will be engaged in projects, drawing on and valuing whanau expertise
• Teachers share a strong moral purpose to drive their own learning in order to accelerate Māori student success and are open in their thinking as to how this may be in both worlds. Te Puawaitanga o te Wairua will approach this innovation by reflecting the five principles of Ka Hikitia – the Treaty of Waitangi; Māori potential approach; Ako; Identity, language and culture; and, productive partnerships.

Our bilingual unit currently operates at Level 2, with between 51% and 80% of teaching and learning delivered in te reo Māori. Over the next five years, our goal is to progress towards Level 1, where between 81% and 100% of teaching and learning is delivered in te reo Māori.

Teaching and planning draw on both The New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa. Te Aho Arataki Marau mō te Ako i Te Reo Māori – Kura Auraki also supports the teaching of te reo Māori at Levels 3.

Students continue to access all areas of the curriculum, with te reo Māori me ōna tikanga woven authentically throughout the school day. Strong whānau involvement and support are essential to sustaining and growing our bilingual unit.

• Karakia and Himene will start the day followed by a focus on our school values.
• Planning will be written in Maori (English where appropriate). Maori word of the day or week as well as a whakatauki.  This is a focus.
• Te Rehita, Karakia me himene – Roll call, prayer and hymn
• Pepeha – One child will share their pepeha and class will follow with a waiata.
• Whaipainga mo taku kura – School Value for the term is taught
• Korero – Oral Language: Basic sight words are taught and tested on a Friday
• Tuhituhi – Writing follows Tools4Teachers methodology and both alphabets are taught with their sounds.
• Wā tākaro- Play time
• Pāngarau – Maths is taught with the strategy Lucie Cheeseman mathematics, number talks etc
• Pānuitia – Reading is taught with a focus on concepts about print.
• Tina/wā kai – Lunch/eating time
• Uiuinga / Nga toi – Inquiry / The Arts are a focus in the afternoons. Health and PE is also assigned here and can be taught during the day if a timetable is required for the whole school.

In 2024, we offer Year 3 – 6 classes. Places are limited and expectations of whanau are high.

Students in our unit will have first access to be a part of and/or lead the whole school powhiri, Matariki events, cultural performances with kapa haka, community Maori events, Rongoa Garden and Maori Language weeks.

Teachers will have continued support through Te Ao Maori opportunities in our school, our community and the wider community.