My strength is not that of an individual but that of the collective.

We are well and truly on our way to strengthening our cultural responsiveness practices at West Eyreton School. This could not happen without the support of all our staff and community in which we work and live. For many of our teachers they have had to step out of their comfort zones and learn alongside their akonga. But they are doing it! 

As you walk down our front path into school you are greeted by our 5 E's, Excellence, Empathy, Enterprise, Effort and Example carved out of Oamaru stone in the form of 5 koru. Gone are our old classroom numbers and instead our learning hubs (rōpū) are depicted by five different native birds that link to our school’s Self Regulated Learners’ Journey.

The continuum of native birds illustrates the growth of our West Eyreton Learners from NE to Year 8 as they progress through the school on their learning journey.

The native birds start off at the seashore at the New Entrant level and continue next to the plains in Year 1 & 2, then to the forest for Year 3 & 4, then to the foothills & cliffs for Year 5 & 6 and finally to high above the mountains for Year 7 & 8 pupils.

We have just celebrated Matariki at school by learning about the Maori traditions and history of this New Year celebration. All of our akonga have participated in a weeks worth of arts & crafts, waiata and rakau activities. We invited our community to join us in a hangi celebration which was a new experience for many of our tamariki and their whanau. 

We are incredibly lucky to have the support of Ngai Tahu, whose farms now make up a large part of the West Eyreton/Eyrewell community. With the support of Ngai Tahu we are able to run a successful Kapahaka programme. Our performance group have participated in the North Canterbury Cultural Festival for the past two years and this year were invited (for the second time) to perform at the Ngai Tahu farming awards dinner. What an incredible experience it was for our tamariki and whanau to be a part of. Our group performed with aroha and mana, showing that cultural responsiveness is well and truly alive in this little rural North Canterbury School!