This is a question we have been asking not just our tamariki throughout the year, but also our staff. Who are we? Where do we come from? Where do we belong?

West Eyreton has been digging deep into who we are as a kura. This term all staff spent a day at Maahanui II Marae delving deeper into the tūpono whenua of where we live and teach. 

We were welcomed by a pōwhiri and for some staff this was a new experience. An hour was spent on delivering our mihi/pepeha and listening to the mihi/pepeha of others, making connections and tweaking pronunciation. 

Much of the day was spent learning about our local area. Knowing who the tipuna of our whenua were, learning the stories of Aoraki and his brothers followed by the set up and fall of Kaiapoi Pa. 

It was a day of learning, reflecting and connecting with our mana whenua and meeting others within our hapū.

To follow up this day Whaea Di Robinson led a staff meeting making the links from our learning at the marae to our teaching in our classrooms and kura. 

Whaea Di highlighted the importance of the relationship between the environment and our Maori learners. As teachers we need to have an awareness of this and bring more of an environmental focus and connection into our teaching practices. One aspect could be focusing on nga maunga, and nga awa as starting points and expanding from these. 

Our tamariki across the school have spent this term connecting with the whenua through planting out and expanding a native skink habitat on our local Pamu farm, visiting our local waterways and measuring the health of these, going down to our closest awa to identify and record native putiputi, rākau and manu, identifying and classifying ngārara and ika that inhabit our waterways. Studying, designing and creating habitats for tuna. These experiences have made their way back into our classrooms where our tamariki have continued to research and expand their knowledge of these. We have begun to tell the myths and legends from the areas that we as kaiako come from, weaving the history of our whenua into our classrooms of today, connecting our akonga with the past.

Our day at Tuahiwi has definitely made us ask pātai and reflect on who we are as kaiako. How can and do we deliver a culturally connected curriculum that benefits all learners? How do we connect with our whenua?

So now it is your turn...

Ko wai Koe?