In one of our ERO reviews around 2012 we were challenged to find a way to track and monitor the reo Māori learnt by our tamariki.

What we created was the poutama, which is a rubric that tracks te reo me ōna tikanga Māori of our tamariki and all of us.

A poutama is a stepped pattern of tukutuku panels and woven mats - symbolising genealogies and also the various levels of learning and intellectual achievement. Some say they represent the steps which Tāne-o-te-wānanga ascended to the topmost realm in his quest for superior knowledge and religion.

In our case we have four steps to our poutama. They are colour coded, kakariki, kahurangi, kōwhai and waiporoporo and each step represents the level of reo Māori achieved, going from kupu kotahi (one word utterances) to rerenga kōrero (fluent speaker). The steps cover the reo Māori movement and underneath we have "Ngā mahi Rangatira" - we are Early Childhood trained so we cover the holistic tamaiti - in this case Ngā mahi Rangatira represents the tikanga Māori.

When tamariki join our whānau, we assess their level of te reo me ona tikanga Māori and start them on the poutama. To move up, they are assessed by the kaiako team for not only the language improvements they have made but also for their mahi Rangatira. It is not enough to be able to kōrero i te reo Māori, we need our tamariki to have rangatiratanga skills as well; personal leadership begins at this age, teaching the values of tika, pono, aroha ensures a well-rounded tamaiti who has resilience and can manaaki, tiaki and understands their responsibility to themselves, others and the environment.

When our tamariki have achieved a level upgrade it is a time for celebration - we invite the whānau in to celebrate with us and award the tamaiti with a taonga (such as a pukapuka) and a certificate. It is important to celebrate all the good things so tamariki know what success is and what it feels like to achieve it. In doing so we are teaching tamariki that they can and will achieve whatever they want to put time and effort into.

Also, because we lead by example, all kaiako are on the poutama as well. We measure our own progress in te reo me ona tikanga Māori and encourage all whānau to do the same.

So, if you would also like to be on our poutama too, just let the kaiako know 🙂