We are fortunate to have been gifted a whakatauāki for our kura by Mātauraka Mahaanui mana whenua facilitators Karuna Thurlow and Dianne Robinson. This was first gifted in 2018 and was then revised in 2020 by Dianne, to align with our new school vision.

At Ōhoka, we continue to endeavour to increase our use of te reo Maori and to develop a deeper understanding of tikanga Maori. We begin each day with a  whakatauki and waiata that our students recite and sing confidently. These change on a termly basis. Staff meetings also, begin and close with a whakatauki. 

Both students and teachers present their mihi or pepeha as a regular feature at our school assemblies. 

We have an enthusiastic group of students in our kapa haka group  who practise regularly and compete each year in the North Canterbury Kapa Haka Festival. 

For Matariki this year, we celebrated our strong tuakana teina ties with our senior students working alongside our juniors, teaching them how to make putiputi harakeke (flax flowers) - a huge success!