WHOLE SCHOOL MARAE NOHO - HOKIANGA.

WHAT A TRIP - LIFETIME MEMORIES OF THE HOKIANGA...

Ko te mea tuatahi e mihi ahau ki a koutou i haere ki a Hokianga i tērā wiki. He tino pai haere tērā. Ka nui ngā mihi ki ngā kaumatua, ngā kuia, nga mātua me ngā whānau o te kura o Tautoro i haere ki a Hokianga. Ka nui ngā mihi ki a koutou mo ou koutou tautoko o ngā kaupapa o tērā haere. Ngā mihi ki a koe Papa Joe mo tou tautoko ki a mātou i te pōwhiri i a Whakamahanatanga Marae, a Waimamaku. Ngā mihi ki a koe te kai karakia timatanga me te kai mihi i te pōwhiri. Ki a koe, Nanny Cindy ngā mihi mo tou awhi ano. Ngā mihi whakamoemiti ki a kōrua. Ka nui ngā mihi ki a koe Whaea Chanella mo tou mahi whakarite mo tātou nei haere. Ngā mihi hoki ki a koe mo tou kōrero e pa ana ngā kaupapa o Kupe me te wahi Hokianga. Ngā mihi whakawhetai ki a koe. Ngā mihi ki a Dwayne te kai mihi tuarua i te pōwhiri. Ngā mihi ki a koe me Whaea Dawnette hoki mo ou tautoko me awhi ki ngā tamariki ki te hoe i ngā waka. Ki ngā mātua, te whānau o te kura o Tautoro i haere ki te haere ngā mihi. Ngā mihi ki a koutou mo ou tautoko me tiaki o ngā tamaiki mokopuna. Ngā mihi mahana ki a Whaea Hana me tou whānau me ngā mātua mo ou mahi nui i te kīhini. Ngā mihi ki a koutou mo ngā kai reka rawa. Ka mau te wehi. Ngā mihi, ngā mihi, ngā mihi ki a koutou. Mauri ora ki a koutou katoa.

Wow! What a great trip to the Hokianga! Thank you to all those who came and made the trip possible and so successful. This trip would not have taken place without Whaea Chanella’s organisation. Thank you for the wonderful people that you arranged to teach us - Aaron about the waka and Allan Hessill at Whiria Pa. Thank you so much for that. We will all have lifelong memories. Thank you Papa Joe for your leadership at the pōwhiri. It was also great to have so much support from Nanny Cindy, parents and whānau once again. It was good to have the hoe and waka expertise of Dwayne and Whaea Dawnette too. There was some hard workers in the kitchen doing an awesome job producing yummy food and then cleaning up afterwards. Thank you to Whaea Hana, Shar, Millie and Tilly and all those parents and tamariki who then also cleaned the marae for us on Friday. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you everyone.

Highlights for me will forever be seeing our tamariki actually in waka using hoe for real, sitting on the lookout listening to Whaea Chanella talk about the taniwha and Kupe, having fun playing outside the marae, the beautiful sunrise on Friday morning, and last but NOT least going to Whiria Pa and listening to Allan Hessill. WOW! I have learned so much and feel deeply privileged to have had such an experience.

What a way to start the year!

Ngā mihi aroha, ngā mihi mahana ki ngā whānau whānui i tēnei tau kura hou.
Happy New Year to you all. Hurray… school is back. I am so pleased to see everyone again.

We started our first week with a powhiri for our new tamariki and whānau. We warmly welcome to our school the following students and their whanau – Shalom Paewhenua-Henry, Ronaldo Neho, Aroha and Arapeta Ruawhare, Victor-Jack Cooper, and Te Arani Hardy. Nau mai, piki mai, haere mai koutou ki te kura o Tautoro. Ngā mihi ki ngā mātua me ngā whānau i haere mai nei ki te tautoko ngā kaupapa o te powhiri.

We have our first Whānau Day last Wednesday 12^th February 2014. It was a VERY exciting day! The Chromebooks had arrived! After morning tea each senior class received their Chromebooks, class by class in the library. Our junior tamariki received their Ipads too. Every class and every child received a device. We loved having so many parents and whānau here to celebrate this special occasion.

Other special events taking place this term include a whole school marae noho as per our plans last year out at the Hokianga. This is tentatively planned for Thursday 27^th and Friday 28^th February 2014. We particularly want to provide an opportunity for our tamariki to experience being on a waka as this supports our waka model being used for the tikanga of our school. Additionally, we are planning a whole school hikoi to Maunga Tauanui on Friday 28^th March 2104.

Our Puna is up and running. They are meeting twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday from 10am to 1pm in Room 1 at Tautoro School.

We are committed to a partnership with our whole school community. Together we can make a difference for the tamariki.