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Te Kura Toitu o Te Whaiti-nui-a-Toi is celebrating the revitalisation of principles passed down to the current generation by their kaumatua (kia whakaoho mauri).

As the Strategic Change Leadership Team (SCLT) explains:

“These have lain dormant for the past 10 years and with the support of Kia Eke Panuku the connections between Culturally Responsive and Relational Pedagogy and our Mauri has brought them to life.”

The kura’s special character is based on the leadership principles of their ancestor, Toitehuatahi / Toikarakau, together with the school’s vision of Whakatipu Rangatira.

The SCLT explains that it wants its tauira, kaiako and whānau to embody those qualities but, while this was always the intention, they recognised that they kept defaulting back to “how we were taught”.

“We felt the pressure to be ‘compliant’. By asking ourselves the hard questions we became conscious of the disconnect between our principles and the curriculum that we were teaching. We realised that we needed to decolonise not only our curriculum but also the way that we think about education.

Bringing the community together
By having the conversations and deepening their understanding of “who and where we are” the SCLT realised they needed to utilise the rich environment that surrounds the kura.

They decided that the development of a maara was one way they could do this - as an expression of Toi and his leadership principles.

They knew that a maara was more than a food source (garden) - it was something that could provide authentic contexts for learning, as well as providing a common experience for their learners and the community.

The work on the maara has already begun and is already providing many opportunities for learning - tauira, kaiako and whānau are participating in its development and this is reflecting their principles in action. As the mauri awakens, people’s mauri responds and they want to be part of the kaupapa.

As hoped, the wider community is being drawn in. For example, one contractor who initially quoted $4,500 to clear the ground then decided to donate his time as a way of contributing to the kaupapa. Another is a local farmer who has offered to plough, cultivate, seed and fence the area at no cost.

The SCLT continues to reflect on their experience:

“The maara is a physical manifestation of our own growth and understanding of the principles. The life force of the mauri is directly connected to the life force of the whenua. The maara is just the starting point.”

Mai i te mauri noho ki te mauri oho!

In 2015, the Tamaki College Strategic Change Leadership Team (SCLT) was part of a Kia Eke Panuku wānanga. This challenged them to consider that the school’s marae was not the central focus of the school as it had been in the past. They wanted the marae to again be a valued taonga so that students and teachers could draw on the knowledge-base in their local region and to reconnect to its history and tikanga.

A focus for the celebration
The team determined that the 25^th anniversary of the marae would be an ideal opportunity to re-establish its importance, role and position in their community.

The marae was established in 1991 with the vision of the then board of trustees chairman, Steve Kirkwood. His vision was for a marae that would welcome all the people of Glen Innes, and this led to the development of Te Poho o Tamaki Marae (‘the Heart of Tamaki’).

He was supported by John Grant, the principal of the College of the time, together with Wally Noble, a skilled carpenter, and Steve’s wife Nellie Kirkwood, the school’s te reo Māori teacher.

Celebration day
On 17 October 2016 the 25^th anniversary of the marae was celebrated with great style. Kaumatua, kuia, past and present staff, and students and whānau took part in a day of celebrations that included a powhiri, presentations, hāngi, storytelling and waiata.

Special tributes
The students led a special tribute to the kaumatua Wally Noble for his 25 years of service to the kura.

The speech by deputy head boy, Jordan Makea (Tainui), explained how John Grant originally employed Matua Wally to help restore a dilapidated building, brought up from Kopuku in the Waikato, to be the school’s wharekai.

A memorable moment from the day was a performance of the school haka Tika Tonu that spontaneously erupted from staff and students during this presentation in honour of Matua Wally’s significant contribution and mana.

The head girl, Racheal Kaitu'u, also paid tribute to Soana Pamaka, the current principal, who has served the school for 25 years. Racheal made special mention of her leadership in ensuring the culture, language and identity of the Glen Innes communities remained strong and the centrality of the marae within this.

To honour her culture, a Tongan hymn Eiki Koe Ofa was sung by the students as her daughter, Sela Pamaka, presented her with a korowai.

On Thursday 1st September, Kerikeri High School hosted a hui at their school Whare Hui, Te Pou o Manako. Seven schools from across Tai Tokerau and the northern reaches of Tamaki Makaurau were represented on the day.

Kerikeri High School shared stories of their journey within the kaupapa journey both as part of the Te Kotahitanga research and professional development project and Kia Eke Panuku. They also opened their classrooms for hui participants to visit and talk with both students and teachers.

On Tuesday 20th September Kelston Girl’s College hosted a similar hui at Waipapa Marae in Tamaki Makaurau. The day was framed around the whakatauki:

Tuia te rangi e tū iho nei, tuia te papa e takoto nei.
(Join the sky above to earth below, just as people join together)

Representatives from fifteen Kia Eke Panuku schools, from Pukekohe to Kaitaia, focused on the notions of ‘sustainability and spread’ with four schools sharing experiences and current understandings.

Within the ‘Student Voice’ section of the website you will find links to videos that illustrate responses to the themes that emerged when our rangatahi spoke of what they understood by the Ka Hikitia phrase: "enjoying and achieving education success as Māori".

They form part of the suggested question frameworks that accompany the ‘Student Voice’ analysis designed to support professional learning hui with staff and the community.

You can also locate the videos independently from the ‘Dimensions’ drop down menu where they are arranged in a series of kete. Here are direct links to the video collections.

Leadership video kete

Cultural Identity video kete

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Evidence-based Inquiry video kete

Culturally Responsive and Relational Pedagogy video kete

Educationally Powerful Connections video kete

Today we launch a new home page to signal the arrival of Student Voice. This new section provides an interactive framework to guide our response to the thoughts (ngā huatau) of the young people (taiohi) we serve.

In response to a challenge laid down by our Expert Advisory Group these taiohi shared with us what the Ka Hikitia vision “Māori enjoying and achieving education success as Māori” means to them.

There was a high level of consistency, with common themes being identified from one hui to the next. This means that we can be confident that these themes will be present within all our schools. Rather than schools repeating the process of interviewing their own students, we can immediately respond to what these students are telling us in order to promote greater likelihood of success for others.

The Student Voices section includes:

• Ngā Huatau Taiohi - Māori enjoying and achieving success as Māori
  The voices from each Marae collated in themes
• Understanding the implications - an analysis and next steps for action
  An interpretation of each theme and a framework for schools and communities to activate their response to the students. This section also includes links to new video resources depicting how schools are already responding.
• Student Voices collated in themes
  The consistent collective voice across the country.
• Expert Advisory Panel "What is Māori success as Māori" chart (PDF)
  The thoughts of our Advisors designed to provoke response and discussion among us all.
• Photo gallery
  We have chosen not to identify any student with a particular comment but the gallery provides a sense of the wairua and mauri of those who so generously shared so others could succeed.

We have designed a poster so you can promote Student Voice to your staff, students and community.

The SCLT and AKO group (a team leading the implementation of culturally responsive and relational pedagogy within the school) identified multiple processes, strategies and systems that have been put in place over a period of time that support the kaupapa for Māori success as Māori in their school.

The Kia Eke Panuku - Ako: Critical Context for Learning diagram helped them to see that the multiple processes were in fact well spread across the three contexts for learning, and that they all contributed in some way to the simultaneous success trajectories of their Māori students.

The power of all three contexts working interdependently was highlighted as a way forward for their school to achieve deep, systemic and sustainable change.

With this in mind, a staff PLD day was co-constructed, resulting in a marae-based hui for teachers, invited Māori students and whānau, to discuss what Māori success as Māori at Rodney College looks like.

Three activities were devised to help facilitate a culturally responsive and relational pedagogical approach for the group:

• Reflecting on the reading: Averill, R., Hindle, R., Hynds, A., Meyer, L. Penetito, W., Taiwhati, M. Hodis, F. & Faircloth, S. (2014). “It means everything doesn’t it?”
  Interpretations of Māori students achieving and enjoying educational success “as Māori”. set: Research Information for Teachers. 2, 33 - 40
• Drilling deeper - What is Success as Māori?
  Consideration of the Kia Eke Panuku Straw Man document bus stop activity
• Listening to Student Narratives: Ngā Huatau Taioho
  Students sharing their experiences of enjoying and achieving education success as Māori

The shared sense-making, drawing on the knowledge and experiences of all participants, created a rich robust dialogue throughout the day:

• “Sometimes we (students) need teachers as a friend - as opposed to a teacher. To support us as whānau. Some teachers think they are there just to teach – not for support in other areas.“
• “Treat the relationship (teacher to student) as whānau.”
• “Don’t treat us differently.”
• “Need more social (down/relax) time to get to know each other and their thoughts/ aspirations.”
• “Listen and try to understand (don’t jump to conclusions) ask questions (open ended).”
• “We can share but we think it may sound stupid.”
• “Māori prize-giving gives opportunity for students to recognise their success as a Māori.”
• “Walk confidently in Māori world while having a positive impact on the pākehā.”
• “A space for staff, students and whānau to share their thoughts and experiences in a culturally responsive and relational way has been opened; the challenge now is for us to create more opportunities for this to occur such that it becomes normal practice.” (Principal)

At the December 2015 Kahui Whakaako Hui, Kerikeri High School was introduced to the Ako: Critical Contexts for Learning model.

The school considered how they might utilise the model to support a critically reflective conversation on their current initiatives in relation to the Literacy, Te Reo Māori and Numeracy dimension.

The graphic organiser that followed was then shared during Wānanga 4, initially at Ngunguru Marae.

The Kerikeri High School Strategic Change Leadership Team explained what initiatives were in place for literacy, te reo Māori and numeracy within their school. They then considered how, and to what extent, each initiative connected to the three aspects of the Ako: Critical Contexts for Learning model.

Not only did this challenge them to think both widely and deeply about each initiative, it also highlighted key areas for development. This led to further refinement of their action plan and the initiatives themselves.

The graphic organiser shared was warmly received by schools at Wānanga 4. Many saw opportunities for its use across the other Kia Eke Panuku dimensions and within the context of curriculum.

• To download the graphic organiser, click here
• For more on the Critical Contexts for Learning, see Mahi Tahi
• To download the Critical Contexts for Learning Chart, click here

We have updated the ‘Impact’ section of the site. It now contains the results of the latest school survey where the external evaluation team canvassed the views of principals about the shifts in outcomes and changed behaviours they attribute to Kia Eke Panuku .

We also report on what Rongohia te Hau and the ongoing classroom observation process is telling us about improving classroom practice across all our schools.

ERO reports are also evidencing the degree to which schools are taking up the challenge of Kia Eke Panuku and we have included a sample of these references.

• Explore the Impact section

The Mahi Tahi area of this site, where the theorising that underpins Kia Eke Panuku is detailed, has been expanded to better support schools and their communities to realise their commitment to ensuring all Māori students are able to enjoy and achieve education as Māori.

There are now two distinct sections.

The first - Mahi Tahi making the difference - provides a description of the defining elements of the Kia Eke Panuku response and how they provide a pathway to transformative school reform.

Key to this are the three critical contexts for learning that require our attention and investment to bring about deep, systemic and sustainable change.

The second - Mahi Tahi working together - remains as it was before but now sits ‘behind’ the first section. It provides the detail of the thinking, the people and the processes at work to realise the aspirations of Māori communities.

This section is in effect a “map” of the work undertaken by Strategic Change Leadership Teams and the perspectives that guide their way of working. Each phase is described in the “Voices” of kaitoro (facilitators) who detail the interplay of the institutions that enable the realisation of our kaupapa.