As a school staff and Board of Trustees we believe it is a moral and ethical imperative to protect and celebrate Te Reo Māori, tikanga Māori and our bicultural history for every student in our school.

Recently we have bolstered our Te Reo Māori language learning programmes, and also added various visuals around the school.

When we established our school it was really important for us to be authentic around aspects of Te Reo Māori and tikanga Māori. We talk about working from the ngākau (the heart).

Our warm relationship with Ngāti Wairere has greatly assisted us, and recently we have added some additional touches to reflect the importance.  In Te Aroha we have added the school pepeha. A pepeha is a form of introduction that helps to establish identity, heritage & connection.

This is the pepeha of the school (students also learn their own pepeha):

Anei te pepeha o te kura
Ko Taupiri te maunga (The mountain that we affiliate to is Taupiri)
Ko Waikato te awa (The river that we affiliate to is Waikato)
Ko Tainui te waka (The waka that we affiliate to is Tainui)
Ko Waikato te iwi (Our local Māori tribe is Waikato)
Ko Ngāti Wairere te hapū (Our local sub-tribe is Ngāti Wairere)
Ko Hukanui te marae (Our local marae is Hukanui)

Toku reo, toku ohooho — My language, My awakening