The awards given out for anyone who missed Te Puawaitanga on Wednesday!

Matatū

Year 11: Kahutia Foster-Hesp

Year 12: Mia Tietjens

Matatau

Year 11: Bella-Marie Stills-Carter

Year 12: Petrus Blokker-King

Mataora

Year 11: John Watson

Year 12: Petrus Blokker-King

Pononga o te Tau

Year 11: Bella-Marie Stills-Carter

Year 12: Petrus Blokker-King

Reo Roreka Award:

This is an award that recognises the skill of oratory. The ability to stand to the world and let your voice be heard. An ancient skill that is becoming lost and should, therefore, be treasured and admired. With using your voice in today’s society, you are opening yourself up to judgement and instant feedback, so the confidence it takes should be recognised and respected.

• Te HInenga Te Hemi & Monnie Tuuta-Roberts

Whakarangatira Award:

The ability to lead by example, never ask anything of others, other than what you would do yourself. To lead with pride, passion and purpose! To love haka deep within your bones.

• Jasmine Mahara and Monnie Tuuta-Roberts

Tika, Pona & Aroha

Our values are what make us unique at Te Pa, they are our own. We hold their strength in our pononga of high esteem and should, therefore, be recognised. These two pononga are each receiving this award for their consistent and natural display of Tika, Pono and Aroha. Perseverance, resiliency and compassion.

• Cheyenne Ranga-Pokere & Rangiwhakaahua Tawhi-Nopera

This year we are presenting awards for those pononga who have consistently displayed EXCELLENCE in ALL facets of Te Pā’s curriculum being:

• Pou Matatū

• Pou Matatau

• Pou Mataora

We have two awards this year that come with Scholarships for the two recipients and tāonga.

The tāonga have been created and generously gifted by Hemi & Tracey Te Hemi and blessed by Reverend Maurice Gray.

The first award is named “Tū Te Raki Whānoa”.

This story starts after Te Waka o Aoraki overturned. Tū Te Raki Whānoa came searching and found the wreckage of Aoraki. After he had mourned, he then began the task of making this terrible wreck into something beautiful where people could live and thrive by creating many of the landscapes we take for granted today, such as:

• The Grey River valley

• Fiordlands (Piopiotahi) by using his adze ‘Te Hamo’

• Using a rake to create many rivers, springs and waterways

• The result of some of his raking is said to be known as ‘Horomaka’ (Banks Peninsula)

In essence, the kōrero of Tū Te Raki Whānoa is of triumph over tragedy, of creating beauty from wreckage, of imagining what could be, and putting in the work needed to make it happen.

The recipient of this award has consistently shown all of those attributes not only this year, but in the year prior. “She” has always worked hard, has always been willing to take the risk of trying something she’s not done before, has always strived to give her best in the tradition of Tū Te Raki Whānoa.

It is with pleasure that we award the Tū Te Raki Whānoa prize, along with a US Athletic Scholarship from Rich Bodo and the tāonga created by Hemi & Tracey Te Hemi to:

• Neza Rangihuna Billingsley

The second award is named “Rākaihautū”

Luckily this tipuna is whom our Pā is named after and much of his kōrero is familiar. Rākaihautū lit the fires of occupation in this island and with his ‘Ko” he carved out the lakes and many rivers in Te Wai Pounamu. He was a leader (kaihautū), explorer and creator who shaped the land we now occupy. Rākaihautū shaped our world just as we encourage our pononga and whānau to ultimately take up their own ‘Ko’ to carve our their own world to make it their own ‘Nōku Te Ao’.

The recipient of this award has consistently navigated his own pathway and shown leadership not just over the last year, but every year he has been here.

It is with pleasure that we award the Rākaihautū prize, along with a $5,000 Scholarship sponsored by Nōku Te Ao Charitable Trust, and of course the beautiful tāonga created by Tracey & Hemi Te Hemi to:

• Monnie Tuuta-Roberts

TAUHERE 2020:

Petrus Bokker-King & Mia Tietjens