This week we celebrate Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori Language Week where kaiako (teachers) and akonga (learners) put extra effort into learning and using te reo. Our core wairua is Catholic. Ka pai tō koutou rā (have a great day) Nga mihi

Teachers are  linked to the Treaty of Waitangi via cultural competencies.

These include:

■ Wänanga: participating with learners and communities in robust dialogue for the benefit of Mäori learners’ achievement. This is relevant for all classrooms, with robust dialogue important for student learning.

 ■ Whanaungatanga: actively engaging in respectful working relationships with Mäori learners, parents and whänau, Hapü, Iwi and the Mäori community. Students are in school for only six hours out of twenty-four hours.  Research shows when we have respectful, positive relationships with parents, the can only be benefits for each child in our care.

■ Manaakitanga: showing integrity, sincerity and respect towards Mäori beliefs, language and culture. We expect to show respect to all parties, all of the time and expect our students care about each other.

 ■ Tangata Whenuatanga: affirming Mäori learners as Mäori. Providing contexts for learning where the language, identity and culture of Mäori learners and their whänau is affirmed.  Research suggests in mathematics, that contextual rich problems will aid learning.

■ Ako: taking responsibility for their own learning and that of Mäori learners.  A phrase that was used in the past within education circles was,  self-regulated learning."  We want all of our learners to share the responsibility in their learning.