There are 4 pou at Te Kura Kohine o Ōtākaro.

These Pou are our equivalent of a house structure. Pou is a Te Reo Māori word which means pillar or post. Our Pou are the pillars in which we base our school values and our vision of empowering women. Our Pou are named after 4 mana wahine who exemplify some of the qualities we wish our students to have.

Students will be placed in a pou and remain there over their 5 years at Avonside Girls’ High School. The pou is lead by two Kaitiaki (Guardians) who looks after all the students in the pou and ensure their academic and pastoral needs are being met.

All staff are expected to attend their pou meetings and support the student leaders in activities and running meetings.

Each pou has two Head of Pou (Y13 student), two Pou Leaders (Y12 students) and a junior pou leader (Y10 student).

Points for winning and for participation will be totaled throughout the year to determine the winning pou. The focus of pou is to increase connection, participation and “school spirit”. Support, encouragement and involvement in pou activities from all staff are vital to the success of this focus.

Wā Ako/Form Time

A whānau class is a small group within a pou. Each whānau class has a teacher called a Pouako. They are central to the school's goal to empower learners. These classes have between 15-20 students in them and range from Year 9-13.

Where possible, students will remain with the same whānau class for their time at school. This is so they will get to understand and know each other and their Pouako well.

Wā ako is a time for students to be exposed to a wide range of ideas, interests, skills and experiences, which support their learning. During ako time students develop skills around learning to learn, and the habits to be successful inquirers and self-directed learners.

Every teacher and some support staff (with the exception of some part time staff) in the school has a whānau class.

There are short check-in ako times daily and two longer ako time weekly with a guided programme.

Pouako

The Pouako is to act as the academic and wellbeing mentor for each of their students. In this way, the whānau class is a support system for the learner and is a bit like an extended family. Within this system, every student has an adult in the school who cares about her deeply.

The Pouako has the opportunity to be a teacher of learning and to radically change the entire schooling experience for their students. An important role of the Pouako is to create a caring, intellectually stimulating and well-organised whānau class. The Pouako works with students to identify passions and link their interests and needs to their learning. The Pouako supports learners to reach academic and personal excellence by supporting them to set learning goals, constantly revisiting them and revising them and to seek ways of supporting each learner to enjoy the success of achieving their goals. The pouako also works with learners to track their learning journey, to discuss learning issues and find solutions, provide pastoral care, provide guidance for life beyond school and build on learners' capacities to take responsibility for their learning.