Te Reo Digital Learning centre

Hera sent us a fabulous resource for teaching Te Reo in our classrooms. It is great because the children can use it independently in the classroom and it can really assist with pronunciation.
I have trained a child to help assist others using this resource.

Engaging Maori Students and their communities

On Friday the 26th of June we had some fabulous PLD with Charlene Mataio. The focus was introducing the Ruia Tools for staff and Whanau to use to reflect on how we are engaging with our Maori communities.

One of the items that really made sense to me is to think about a Maori 5 year old child walking into our school/classroom. What would that child see that they also see in their house. I find that I am using that in my mind when I look around our school.

Ka Hikitia: Accelerating Success

Today we took part in some PLD with Mere Snowden on Ka Hikitia. One of things I found particularly useful was unpacking the treaty principles. I had always thought that for the TReaty I had to be really explicit and teach the treaty. I do this and with my class this year I bought the story the tree house treaty and used this to discuss and share the treaty.
But Mere also made me think about the way our school thought about
Partnership:
 young people who will work to create an Aotearoa New Zealand in which Māori and Pākehā recognise each other as full Treaty partners, and in which all cultures are valued for the contributions they bring.
Protection:
The principle of protection is about actively protecting Māori knowledge, interests, values, and other taonga. Identity, language, and culture are important expressions of what it means to be a culturally located learner. Ka Hikitia (Ministry of Education, 2007) emphasises that “culture counts” and describes a commitment to “knowing, respecting and valuing where students are, where they come from and building on what they bring with them” (page 20).

Participation:
When this principle is realised, the aspirations and views of Māori students, and of their parents, whānau, and communities are apparent in school and classroom planning (ERO, 2011).

Our next step as a staff is to reflect on how we are using these Principals.

We could use the following Guiding Questions from curriculum update Issue 16: January 2012

• What does partnership mean at your school? What leadership roles do different partners take? How could this be enhanced?

• To what extent are the identity, language, and culture of Māori students evident in teaching and learning experiences at your school?

• What does “genuine participation” look like for Māori members of your school community?

• What opportunities do Māori have to share their knowledge and expertise within your school curriculum?

Celebrate Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori 2015

We were invited with the following invitiation

It's been a few years since we have celebrated Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori together as a community so....

LET'S DO SOMETHING BIG TOGETHER!!!

Picture this - Hundreds of Te Huarahi community members, seated in the stands at Ecolight Rugby Stadium, our ECE babies at the front, our older students behind them and the remainder of our community surrounding them, all performing a Mass Haka and 2 Waiata-a-ringa (simple and fun, I promise), together. 

Thanks to the wonderful team at Te Kopu, we are privileged to share two of their amazing Māori & Signlanguage songs, about the colours of the rainbow and days of the week.  We have chosen thehaka 'Tika Tonu', to perform at the conclusion of this event.  Te Kopu's bright, coloured, taniwha will also perform alongside us.  

So on July 31st  we are joining most of the Pukekohe schools at Pukekohe Stadium to celebrate Te Reo

We are busy learning the two Waiata and Haka. we are practising 3 x a day for 28 days as research has shown that after 28 days it becomes a habit. One of the things I love about these Waiata is the links to NZ sign language and also how we are implementing the vocabulary. With Uenuku we are replacing all English colour words for the 28 days and using the Reo instead.



Click here for the video

PLD visiting Maraes along the river

Last year as part of PLD at Tuakau we had a whole day visiting the 5 Maraes along the Waikato river. As part of this day we were invited to stand and give our Pepeha. This was the first time I had delivered mine and felt really proud that I had the opportunity. This day was so beneficial is seeing where our children come from and making connections with them.

3 - Demonstrate commitment to bi-cultural partnership in Aotearoa New Zealand.,

3 - Demonstrate commitment to bi-cultural partnership in Aotearoa New Zealand.,