Te Ao Māori

He taonga te reo Māori – he taonga ngā reo katoa
Maori language is a treasure – as are all languages

Te Whakatipu me to Honohono Hei Ākonga – Growing and Connecting as Learners

Te ao Māori is woven across the school. We come together as a Wadestown School community through events such as our mihi whakatau, our Matariki breakfast, our involvement in the Kāhui Ako kapa haka festival and our hui-ā-whānau (school assemblies). 

Honohono te ira tangata – Weave the people together

Within the classroom te reo and tikanga Māori are intertwined across the school from Years 1 to 8. Ākonga (students) and kaiako (teachers) work together to deepen their understanding of the language and histories, with guidance from our specialist kaiako, Alwyn Rees, and our Kapa Haka tutor, Hemi Prime. 

We aspire for our ākonga to have the opportunity to value, acquire and use te reo Māori in everyday life. Our ākonga will develop their own personal and group identities alongside their language learning. 

A tuakana – teina (buddy class) approach is used to encourage the building of these skills and to develop manaakitanga (caring) and whakawhanaungatanga (reciprocal relationships) across the different class levels.