This morning Steph, Leon's mum, came and talked to us about the narrative that has been developed for our school, particularly around our new buildings.
She began by talking about the location of our Kura, our school. Both Rāpaki and Tuahiriri Marae said that they were our Marae. Steph talked about our wetlands, our Kūkūwai (the name of our main building). Therefore this is our place, not just a single person's.
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| Steph's map of our area |
Our two storey block is our Maunga, our mountain. We are part of the forest, Ngahiri. Our break out spaces in the Kūkūwai, are named after the birds that live in our wetlands.
Korero is a story, a knowledge that is passed forward. A Waharoa is usually an ancestor so it is unusual to have one at a school, but our Waharoa does not feature an ancestor at the top. Our Waharoa depicts where we are, and it is like a blessing to pass through and become part of our school. It is our welcoming gateway. There are two sides - Te Ara, the path, and Te Awa, the river. Both lead upwards to the three bags of knowledge, as we are a school. The geckos are the guardians on our pathway, while the eel are the guardians of our river.
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| Our special Waharoa |
This is our story as a school, it is our responsibility to truly make it ours and to tell it to others.
Thank you Steph!
