Te Ao Māori
Te ao Māori at Ōtūmoetai Intermediate covers lessons through classes and year levels, by way of pepehā, heritage, history, whānau, protocols and kawa under our mātāpono (values) of manaakitanga (care), kaitiakitanga (guardianship), wairuatanga (spirituality, whanaungatanga (relationships), kotahitanga (unity) and mana/rangatiratanga (leadership).
From the very first day of school this year, our tauira (students) were instrumental in providing the necessary pōwhiri, tikanga and kawa, for our school to welcome our new Year 7 students. From then, they have been a huge assistance to myself, and have been representatives of our school, and community.
Within our school, our students learn and recite the school karakia across the school every morning, and lead our karakia at assemblies as a positive start to our day. We have weekly te reo classes, which consist of learning about ourselves through pepehā and whakapapa (genealogy), our school through connections to waka, iwi, hapū, and whenua, as well as the learning names of school surroundings, whakatauāki, school karakia, waiata, and school haka. Many tauira are now confident to mihi in te reo and give a hearty “kia ora” or “mōrena’ on most days, and some have extended that to be able to have a conversation using what has been learnt within the classroom.
Outside of the school, our tauira attended the Te Ranga Remembrance Day, a humble, emotional, early morning ceremony, remembering what took place at Te Ranga, and its connections to us as a school, hapū and iwi. Our tauira stood as tangata whenua (hosts) welcoming manuhiri and supporting the speakers with waiata, along with Manunui, Brookfield School.
This year we initiated waiata Māori assemblies for each year level. The tauira not only learnt, and reinforced a series of well-known waiata Māori, but it was notable to see they had a great time doing so as well. This was not just restricted to the students. The kaiako (teachers) also learnt the waiata ‘E Hika tu ake’ to sing in unison with all kaiako from across Tauranga at the Te Tai Whanake Local Curriculum launch. Ka pai kaiako mā! Kia kaha!
Te Kāhui Tui ā Kinomoerua, is the whaikōrero group that met once a week and learnt basic whaikōrero (oratory) skills. They have extended their knowledge and gained confidence, and understanding in the basic skills they have acquired. They continue to learn, to fill their kete for the future.
Manukura
Our Manukura were also a part of National Young Leaders Day, and were inspired by speakers to have self-belief and resilience in order to be great leaders. With this as inspiration, the students organised, participated in, and judged, the school ‘Haka challenge’ as a part of our Matariki celebrations. The Manukura also designed and created our taonga for the best haka challenge house. This is their legacy for students to vie for in following years. It was amazing to see all our houses participate strongly, and the deserved victors receive the spoils (Cooper House, Year 7).
Kapa Haka
The kapa haka made steady progress through the year returning to perform at the Showcase, re-shuffled the bracket, and ramped up again for Te Ra Rehia in term 4, standing as hau kāinga with Bellevue school, who we also supported in learning and performing the haka pōhiri, and performing alongside our cluster schools upon the stage. Well done to tauira who learnt words, actions and tunes, enabling the message of each song to get through. The group was blown away by haka tautoko performed by ex-Ōtūmoetai Intermediate college students, and then our own Cooper house led by Mr Page.
This is a small glance as te reo continues to grow within our kura through class, and school-wide te ao Māori programmes. We can only get stronger with the input of all, bringing us back to our whakatauāki, ‘Kia oke ngātahi tātou. Ka ekea te taumata o angitū.’
