New Name: Te Maire
What a fabulous gift!
This year we have been working to ensure that our curriculum is localised and culturally relevant - this will be a work on for next year as well.
Part of this process has been raising our awareness of the cultural significance of many of the areas located near our kura (school). All of this adds to the cultural narrative of our kura. This has been great learning for staff and students alike.
In the first and second terms our students worked on projects that considered ways to weave the rich cultural storying of the area throughout all areas of our kura.
You will remember coming to the amazing learning showcase at the end of Term 2. A group of students presented the ideas to Dianne Robinson from Mātauraka Mahaannui, earlier this term as well.
The board is now in the process of master planning a complete update of our outdoor learning areas to encompass some of these project ideas.
As a very special part of this whole process we requested and we have been gifted a te reo Māori name for our kura. Dianne Robinson was invited to our last Board meeting to deliver a naming presentation to us.
We had hoped to launch our new name at the Prize givings this year however as they are not going ahead face to face we have decided to let you all know now and hopefully we will have a naming ceremony in the new year.
The name that has been gifted to us is Te Maire.
"St Francis of Assisi Catholic School is located in the rohe of the Te Ngāi Tūāhuriri rūnanga, with a tribal area extending from the Main Divide to the sea, bounded by the Hurunui and Hakatere rivers.
The school has requested a name from Ngāi Tūāhuriri. In deciding upon a name the geographical and cultural aspects of the area the school is situated upon have been considered. The gifted name is Te Maire.
Maire is a hardy and very useful tree. There are many varieties, some of which grown in the South Island, such as Maire Tawake (Syzygium Maire) and Black Maire (Nestegis Cunninghamii). Historically, Māori named whare wānagga "whare maire" at times. Maire links to the Mairehau area in which the school resides, and references form the tree from which the area name is derived. The Mairehau area also refers to the fragrance of the maire flower in bloom.
St Francis is the patron saint of the environment in which the maire tree thrives. Additionally, he is the patron saint of sustainability, ecology and ecosystem balance, all important aspects of conservation.
Considerations
The teaching levels at Te Maire are Kākano, Paiaka, Tumu and Kaupeka. These existing names reflect various stages of tree growth (seed, root, trunk and branch) perfectly encapsulating the life cycle of the maire tree.
It was also taken into consideration that Te Maire has a very long Catholic name composed of six words, St Francis of Assisi Catholic School. Therefore, it was decided that the gifted name would be short in order to give it every possible chance to be used. It was agreed that a longer name may discourage or confuse students and staff, given the length of the Catholic name."
(Naming document, 2021)
Huge thanks to Dianne Robinson (Mātauraka Mahaanui) and Lynne Te Aika (Education Portfolio Lead) for their work and considerations towards our wonderful new name. Ngā mihi nui ki a kōrua.
Our new name:
Te Maire St Francis of Assisi Catholic School