After last year's consultation with whānau, staff and students, we were excited to share our new values of Kaitiakitanga, Whanaungatanga, Mātauranga and Manaakitanga.

Each term, as a school, we will focus on one of the new values to help embed a deep collective understanding of what the value would look like in classrooms, the playground, library, at home and out in the wider world.

This term we are focussing on whanaungatanga.

Whanaungatanga is based around our relationships - a sense of family connection. Whanaungatanga is fostered through shared experiences and working together, which provides people with a sense of belonging.

So, the basic translation for whanaungatanga is building a family like setting at school. At Konini this could mean; showing kindness to others, making others feel welcome, helping classmates with their learning and helping to keep our classrooms tidy.

Our visual image, or visual metaphor for whanaungatanga is the image of Te au o te whenua. 

Te au o te whenua sits at the bottom of Te Pou. Te au o te whenua is mokopuna to our chief Te Kawerau a Maki. Te au o te whenua is known for his leadership qualities of bringing peace. As a skilled negotiator, Te au o te whenua was able to unite the people of Tamaki Makaurau to help bring sustained peace across the region. 

The name, Te au o te whenua can be translated as - the current of the land.