TŪWHAKARORIA - Our Curriculum

Tūwhakaroria is the name of the kō that Rākaihautū used to carve out the lakes and rivers, ngā puna karikari, in Te Waipounamu. Like the kō, our curriculum is a tool. With this 21st century kō we must prepare our māra so that the seeds we plant grow and flourish from seedlings to youthful maturity. We have a job to do. If we tend our māra well our pononga will grow and flourish. They will be well nourished and cared for in an environment that is free of pollutants, well watered and bathed in the warmth of the sun.

Tūwhakaroria, was buried at its final resting place on the hills on Akaroa Harbour now also known as Tuhiraki. It is the place that we now hold our Tohi (graduations) in the hope that our graduates will pick up their own kō and carve out new worlds for te ao Māori just like our tipuna Rākaihautū.

In Te Pā we aim to:

Restore Māori teaching pedagogy, values, culture and identity as a foundation to educational success; validate matauranga Māori and normalize Māori succeeding as Māori.

Reconnect our whānau with place (place based learning), people and Papatūānuku (mother earth).

Re-ignite a passion for learning, discovery and challenge.

Re-set expectations. Every tamaiti will succeed! 

Ngā Tihi o Angitu - Aoraki Matatū, Aoraki Matatau, Aoraki Mataora

Our curriculum has been designed to feed the mind, heart, body and soul everyday and is built around three tihi, Matatū (Culture, identity and connection), Matatau (academic, sporting and cultural excellence) and Mataora (physical, mental and emotional wellbeing).  

Aoraki Matatū – Building Strong Cultural Foundations

Restoring strong cultural foundations and reconnecting our pononga with our places, our people and our stories is core to our curriculum. The importance of place is reflected in the name of our pā. Our curriculum embeds the unique and rich histories of Rākaihautū and Te Waipounamu. By retracing the footsteps of Rākaihautū through our island learning happens beyond the walls of the classroom. Our marae, our whenua, and our moana are our classrooms and our mahinga kai sites, māra kai and te taiao are our science labs.

Aoraki Mataora - Physical, mental and emotional wellbeing

In most schools this would be included under Health and PE which is often separate from, and considered secondary to traditional academic subjects. This curriculum area normally includes PE, Health, Outdoor Education, Home Economics and Food and Nutrition. In Te Pā, Mataora is one of three core tihi that together aim to nurture the whole person, ā tinana, ā hinengaro, ā wairua and ā whānau to develop mentally sharp, emotionally resiliant, physically strong, well rounded pononga. All pononga engage in physical fitness daily and we provide  a healthy breakfast and lunch that are cooked on site.

Aoraki Matatau - Academic, Sporting and Cultural Excellence

In Te Pā we aim to build a Māori Learning Environment (MLE) that ensures academic, sporting and cultural brilliance become the new norm for our whānau. Māori under-achievement is well documented and has persisted for many generations.  In Te Pā our curriculum has been designed to  engage and challenge our tamariki to raise their sights to the highest peaks - Aoraki Matatau and equip themselves with the necessary tools to achieve their goals, just as Rākaihautū did. 

Individual Tailored Learning 

Every pononga actively participates in designing their own individual learning plan, setting academic, sporting and cultural goals and working with their kaiārahi to build their learning programmes to achieve these goals.

Te Hā o Rākaihautū - Te Reo Māori me ngā Tikanga Māori. 

Te reo Māori is not a prerequisite for entry into Te Pā but it will be the norm on exit from Te Pā. We aim to offer a number of pathways for learning te reo catering for all levels of fluency with the goal of normalising te reo in the playground. It is also important that te reo is learnt in the context of a pā and all the values and tikanga that comes with that. We are developing our own dual language model that will ensure that our graduates leave Te Pā proficient in Te Reo Māori and English.

Intergenerational Learning 

It takes a village to raise a child and in Te Pā we draw on the strengths, talents and passions of the whole whānau. We recognise that everyone is a learner and everyone is a teacher in line with the concepts of ako, tauira and tuākana-teina. At times whānau will learn by age group and at others by common kaupapa. We will be encouraging students to move through their schooling at their own pace and not according to their year of manufacture

Hautututanga – Discovery Learning

It is our goal to re-ignite the fire in the puku of our pononga. We want our pononga not only engaged in education but passionate about learning, excited by discovery, and undaunted by challenge. We create multiple opportunities for our pononga to learn by doing, experiencing and exploring all the world has to offer.