Our kapa haka proudly led the mihi whakatau to welcome our visitors today.

Today we had principals and facilitators from different Manaiakalani clusters around NZ visit us and meet for a hui here at St Francis of Assisi. We were proud of the way the kapa haka led the school in the mihi whakatau. 

A whakatau is a form of welcome ceremony similar to a pōwhiri, but less formal and more flexible. It’s used in many different contexts and can be adapted to suit many types of occasion.

The aspects that are common in both forms of welcome are the tikanga (values and principles) that underpin and drive them. The two key values are:

• manaakitanga – the process of showing respect, generosity and care for others
• whakawhanaungatanga – the process of establishing relationships

Learn Create Share (LCS) is a teaching and learning approach we have been using at St Francis of Assisi  since we joined the Manaiakalani Outreach Programme (TMP) in 2018. Five other schools in the Te Ara Tūhura cluster also use this approach to teaching and learning.

We shared this whakatauki at our mihi whakatau today.

“E hara taku toa i te toa takitahi. Engari, he toa takitini”.

My strength is not as an individual but as a collective. 

Since becoming part of the Manaiakalani whānau the Te Ara Tūhura cluster has seen first hand how being part of a collective can support us to enhance teaching and accelerate learning and we are very grateful to be part of this whānau.

Today we spent time discussing teaching and learning and our next steps in our journey of continuous improvement.