110 | Small school playing a big role in community The school underwent a significant refurbishment guided by the design of First Principles Architects from Tauranga, who were engaged by the Ministry. COMMUNITY Te Kura Kaupapa O Te Orini Ngati Awa T T Sue Russell Leading what is very much a community school, with a strong heart and impulse to embrace its people and place and to celebrate its past, present and future, is a role Taiarahia Melbourne, from Whakatane’s Te Kura Kaupap o te Orini Ngati Awa, is grateful for. He’s been at the helm of the kura these past 5 ½ years and says the school’s birth, from an initiative by local Marae elders, is something he and all connected to it, value and uphold. “As a small kura, attached to the Marae it was eventually accredited by the Ministry of Education and it remained on that site for the next 23 years or so. This is back in the early 1990’s,” Taiarahia explains. The Ministry granted them a new building and they had about 30-40 students at that time. Then 7 years ago, they were offered tehir current site, that of an independent school at Coastlands, Whakatane. Today, the school boasts a role of 70 children in Year 1-8 and 20 in the high school years. Taiarahia is proud of how the high school students have achieved and are giving back to the school. “We have one who left us to obtain a degree at Waikato University, while another finished Year 12 with us and aspired to become an architect, so has shifted to another school to undertake graphic design as a step in that direction.” A strong Kapa hapa group permeates the school as well and this year Te Kura Kaupapa o te Orini ki Ngati Awa are hosting the regional competition, something the whole community is embracing. The school underwent a significant refurbishment guided by the design of First Principles Architects from Tauranga, who were engaged by the Ministry. “All our classrooms have been upgraded and we are very happy in these spaces.” When COVID came along in 2020 it coincided with new research from GNS who discovered a second fault line that would intersect with the known Edgecumbe fault line right “We are very Ngati Awa centric in our philosophy but beyond that we understand there are many elements that express our modern context.” outside the front gate of the school site. The Ministry were informed of this development and began discussions with the school over how best to progress planned upgrades. “The Ministry basically gave us three options to finally consider. The first was to stay on our existing site and receive some funding to refurbish the admin spaces, or demolish it and replace it with modular buildings, or, if we chose, they would build us a brand new school. “After much engagement, we’ve decided to relocate the school to be in Whakatane and more accessible to a greater number of students.” It came down, Taiarahia says, simply to a matter of believing which option would best support the school to achieve its aspirations. “We saw it as a blessing at the end of the day. Whanau had invested years in the kura.” So looking ahead its an exciting time for the school, staff, students and community to imagine the new school and the opportunities it will give to future generations. Taiarahia says the school is currently waiting to hear from the Ministry as to the details of the shift and most importantly, the value of funding available. “There are three sites that our own Board members have looked at. We have whanau who are shareholders within certain Maori Land Corporations.” Concepts are beginning to be formulated to best reflect the Kaupapa of the Iwi. The school will come into a physical space once discussions with the architects take up these values. “We are about Maori language and revitalisation, the rejuvenation and maintenance of our cultural values and expressions so it is very important to us that the school design embraces these things. “We are very Ngati Awa centric in our philosophy but beyond that we understand there are many elements that express our modern context.” Taiarahia is philosophical as to how long the process and move to a new site and new school will take. “We’ve learnt to be patient and see it as presenting us with more opportunities to really create a wonderful school for our students when all the decisions and funding align.” level 1, 610 cameron road, tauranga 3112 kate@firstprinciples.co.nz
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=