An important update following our recent survey.

Kia ora Whānau

Following on from our recent survey, our Board of Trustees has agreed (at its April meeting) to begin the process of incorporating our school’s cultural narrative (‘Te Pae Kererū’) into the school’s name.

Building on our cultural narrative (where the theme around kererū has been incorporated into the names of our learning teams and new learning spaces), a next step for us is to incorporate the Māori name gifted to our school.

As a MAC (Māori Achievement Collaborative) school within our Kahukura Cluster we have a shared vision to:

• ensure all schools in the cluster are culturally responsive,

• promote mana Māori in our schools and across the cluster, and

• to ensure students take pride in their language, culture and identity.

Our recent ERO (Education Review Office) report also recommended that the school continue to embed Māori language, culture and identity.

The preferences of those in the community (who shared their views through our recent survey) were considered by the board.

The results of the survey (from 244 responses) were…

Cashmere Primary Te Pae Kererū                      46.3%

Cashmere Primary School Te Pae Kererū       31.1%

Te Pae Kererū Cashmere Primary                      14.8%

Te Pae Kererū Cashmere Primary School         7.8%

The school will now follow a Ministry of Education process, seeking final MOE approval to officially incorporate our Māori school name, in the following format:

Cashmere Primary Te Pae Kererū.

Where to next ?

Our next steps, pending MOE approval, will involve developing a plan to address the implementation of this incorporation, e.g. updating of documents, website, school logo, and signage. There will be no cost to you as parents and there are no plans to change the uniform.

Any updates on this process will be included in future editions of Whanau News and will be clearly described as ‘Incorporation of Te Pae Kereru into the school’s name’.

If you have any queries, please contact me.

Ngā mihi nui

Gavin Burn

Principal

Background Information:

Te Pae Kererū is the Te Reo Māori name that has been approved by Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tūāhuriri and gifted to Cashmere Primary. The name translates as ‘the perch of the kererū’ and is reflective of the abundance of kererū within the wider Cashmere/Port Hills area and that kererū are frequent visitors to the school. The theme around kererū was incorporated into the names of our learning teams and new learning spaces.