Nau mai, haere mai, tauti mai!

Te Kura o Waimairi-iri has an array of activities and achievements that our ākonga are involved with. Our Kaupapa Māori articles aim to share our successes and activities with the hāpori and the whānau. The majority of our activities are student directed and lead by our nine senior Māori leaders who have been selected from Year 12 and 13. Our leaders this year are: Amelia MacDonald (head Māori leader, Head Prefect), Ofa Puleiki (Deputy Head Māori leader, Head Prefect), Maia Te Whetu (Deputy Head Māori leader), Shayla Earle, Anika de la Mare, Noah Morcom, Michaela James, Kyran Tranter and Briar Gillies. As well as activities, ākonga have had success with sport and academically.

We would also like to promote some of the activities that are occuring around kura, and encourage more ākonga to attend. Our Māori leaders have been chosen for their tikanga and leadership skills to take part and run some of these workshops and groups such as Whānau club, Homework club and Kapa Haka. Despite the inclusive and positive environment of these groups, it is understood that it may seem daunting and nerving to begin attending a new group. Because of that, it is helpful for the students to learn a few things about the other students taking part so that they know a friendly face.

Rangatira profile: Kyran

There are ten Māori leaders with one of them being Kyran Tranter. Kyran participates and helps out in Homework club, Whānau club, Kapa haka and other various extracurricular activities. Kyran believes that being Māori and identifying as Māori has helped him reach his potential and says,

“ It has given me more opportunities within the school to be a leader, even if it’s just to be encouraging.”

Utilising his knowledge on tikanga kore he is able to apply tikanga, process and practice, to different situations academically, socially, mentally and physically to help others without losing the essence of his cultural identity. Kyran describes his leadership style as “approachable.“

“Humility, honesty, dedication and kindness” are the values he finds important to incorporate into his leadership style. Although Kyran loves to participate in these events at school, just like any other teenager he sometimes finds it hard to juggle the commitments of school, extra-curricular and social demands. Among these commitments, he also plays basketball for the senior school team.

Thankfully, a healthy balance can be found to make these commitments and demands manageable.

“Throughout the week I can go to school, see friends during and after and on the weekends I can work throughout the days and then have a social life at night or work on homework if I feel like being lame,” he said. He credits his achievements to his whānau and his own commitment and focus.

As part of his leadership role, he offers a piece of advice to others following in his footsteps,

“…get your priorities straight and make sure you’re focusing and investing your energy into the things that make you feel happy or accomplished. If you passionate about your culture then get involved, if you love sports get involved and do that. The leadership opportunities will always follow.”

Kapa Haka

Te kapa haka o Te Kura O Waimairi-iri embark on another ambitious year this 2019. The group have established several goals such as organising/ obtaining new authentic piupiu, participating in the Waitaha regional kapa haka competition, and of course gaining many more members to welcome into the whānau. The group is fortunate enough to attain the knowledge and leadership of Tei Perenara this year who works alongside the current tutor Anton McLean. With the guidance of Whaea Anna James and Mr Matt White the group has an exciting year to look forward to. Kapa haka meets weekly on a Monday morning (before school), and Monday lunchtime in the dance hall and welcome all ages and all nationalities. The current target kapa haka is trying to achieve is teaching the school waiata to every student at Te Kura o Waimairi iri. This is an objective driven by passion to spread Te Ao Māori through the Burnside community. Te kapa haka o Te Kura O Waimairi-iri is a huge whānau who welcome all to join their loving community so please join us!

Hands-On At Otago: Shayla Earle visits Otago University

After I had completed my Scholarship application, I was notified November last year that my application was successful and I was awarded a Whai Wheako Scholarship to attend the 2019 Hands-On at Otago programme, Studying Archaeology. This was offered to Māori students going into years 12 and 13, offering a wide range of 9 different types of scholarships to hand out to students from all over the country. These were fully funded which covered all things like transport, food, accommodation and everything in between. This was a great chance to get a feel for what universities were like, which ones to start considering and what it was like studying in this new environment. Four students from Burnside attended Hands-On. In total an estimated 500 people from all around New Zealand.

This week long experience included a “snacks” option. Essentially this had to do with giving different subjects a go. This was part of the day where you would do something different instead of your main study, and experience a variety of things you can study in university. The snacks programme mainly involved all sciences.

Otago University’s extremely well equipped facilities were a convincing factor - which most students who attended were completely mesmerized by. Otago University is ranked the 175th in the list of the top universities in the world. Around 20,000 students attend Otago University each year.

We were lucky enough to receive a lecture from Matt Carter (a maritime Archaeologist) whose Lecture was titled “Dare to be wise.” Matt gave an inspirational speech about all the interesting and exciting things he has been able to do in his time, which all started because he applied for the Australasian Rolex Scholarship - which is worth $30,000 - and found his application successful. Three of these scholarships are given globally, and support underwater and other aquatic-related endeavours. Matt travelled the world doing maritime archaeology. Matt was also given the chance to co-host the TV show Coast NZ alongside Neil Oliver another archaeologist. By the end of his lecture, his main message was encouraging us to take more risks, and dare to want to learn more - reassuring everyone that the decisions they make today have an immense impact on our futures.

In my archaeology project, we studied Māori tools, Middens and the Māori culture, this involved a field trip to a pā site in Dunedin, the Otago museum, giving tool replicas a go and hypothetical archaeology set ups. I learned with a group of 11 people. We spent the majority of our time in and around the Richardson building which shares with Anthropology. We were shown around the building and behind the scenes, we learned about the advanced technology used to locate and date the artefacts and how artefacts like bones are identified. A certificate was awarded at the end of the week stating I participated and completed my Scholarship for the Hands-On Otago Programme in 2019.

Shayla Earle

Orientation:

At the beginning of the school year an Orientation evening is held for those who are new to Burnside High. This is held in the Burnside staff room and families are sent an invite prior to the event. For the duration of the evening the information for students and the events Burnside have on during the year are listed, for example: Kapa Haka regionals, Manu Kōrero Speech Competition, Māori Leaders, Poroporoaki Awards and Whānau club. Introductions of families require one nominated family member to do a simple introduction of who they are and what iwi (tribe) they come from. Dinner is provided and gives families a chance to mix and get to know one another, this also opens the floor to questions anyone may have. a fun activity is held for the students/children to participate in while the parents stay in the staff room and are presented with any information they may want or need. This year’s example of a fun activity consisted of a treasure hunt in groups around the school. This was led by the Māori Leaders of 2019, who gave a background story of the school’s history. To conclude the evening we ended with dessert and more mixing between families, teachers and principals.

The evening lasts an estimated two hours and gives plenty of opportunity for everyone to get involved in activities and discuss any queries or concerns.

Term 2 events and activities

Kapa Haka - every Monday 8 am - 9:10 and lunchtime in the Dance Hall

Whānau club - Thursday lunchtime in K1 (activities in the notices)

Homework club - Thursday after school in N11

Matariki - Monday 10 June

Whānau hui - Wednesday June 5 or June 12 (TBC)

Ngā Manu Kōrero - Friday 28 June at Lincoln University