This week we have been celebrating Te Wiki o te reo Māori. It is 51 years since the Māori Language Petition was presented to Parliament on 14 September 1972. The petition played a significant role beginning the revitalisation of te reo Māori by calling for the government to recognise te reo as a taonga in Aotearoa New Zealand.

We know that language is vital in building and maintaining culture. As well as reflecting on our personal journeys with te reo Māori, this week has also provided us the opportunity reflect on our journey to embrace and celebrate te reo Māori in our school. We’ve made some progress and have more to go. Nga mihi nui to Alex Brown, our Manutaki Māori and Cleo Collins, our Maori Student Rep on the Board, who led a workshop with teachers last week and organised a range of activities for students and staff to celebrate and use te reo Māori. Knowing who we are, where we belong and expressing that through sharing our language and culture with others lies at the heart of personal growth and wellbeing.

Thank you to all the buddies, host sisters and families who supported our visitors from Jissen Gakuen Junior High School in Japan last week. Our relationship with our sister school has been in place for 26 years and we were delighted to welcome Mr Oki, Principal and his team of staff to join us in experiencing our school and Kiwi life for 10 days. We believe that fostering understanding and empathy by sharing who we are, where we belong and our language and culture is hugely important for personal growth and wellbeing. We were delighted to share our celebration of Tongan language and culture last week with our visitors from Japan. A huge congratulations to everyone for organising and participating in all the great activities.

Ngā mihi nui

Mary-Jeanne Lynch
Principal | Tumuaki