MPA Term 3 Meeting - TE KURO O NGĀ TAPUWAE

 On Thursday 29 August the MPA had their term 3 meeting at Te Kura o Ngā Tapuwae.  This was quite an event for many of the Principals in attendance as it was their first time in the school.

Ngā Tapuwae has a very long history in Māngere.  The Principal, Airhia Stirling, has been Principal there for 28 years and the MPA had the privilege of hearing the stories of the school; where it comes from, how it got its name and what it means.  The Tainui iwi connection and the gifts bestowed in the names of education are strongly connected to Ngā Tapuwae and many others schools in the Mangere area.   The turmoil and adversity encountered through colonialism and racism, the stories over time that have led this amazing school to be a leading light in Māngere, achieving amongst the highest academic results in Aotearoa and consistently high attendance rates.  

The school's physical environment is stunning, with the new build completed in 2020, the school is made up of very modern learning spaces.  We had a tour of the school from top to bottom, each space being very deliberately planned and built with students and learning at the heart.  The environment is a true reflection of the community it serves and students were warm and welcoming and obviously proud of their school.  Our pohiri on to the Marae was beautiful and the association was strongly supported by our local iwi, Ngati Tahinga Wilson and Davika Wilson, of Te Ahirwaru.

I personally deeply appreciated the sharing from Arihia and left feeling a sense of triumph and hope for the students, staff and whanau - past, present and future.

Following our pohiri and school tour, we shared kai and settled in for our termly meeting.  To kick off our meeting, we were joined by our MOE Director Deidre Alderson.  Deidre led us through some of the initiatives the government were implementing and unpacked the expectations of these.  She listened to our concerns regarding the rapidity of change and the lack of collaboration between the sector in informing the new curriculum being introduced.  There were also concerns expressed regarding the lack of resourcing and support for students with high needs in schools.  This is ongoing and exacerbated by the push for more change over a short period of time.  We are worried about burnout.

After Deidre and her team left, we had a brief discussion on the MPAs position in regards to the government changes and vision for education moving forward.  Principals expressed their concerns on more specific areas and it was agreed that a media statement was to be formed, agreed upon and sent out by the president on behalf of the association.

Next to present at our meeting was Mary Aue who is leading the MPA 'Back to School' campaign.  Mary is developing a multi-media, multi-generational campaign, reaching out to our community, growing relationships and pushing our back to school messaging in multiple languages.  MPA are really looking forward to seeing this campaign take off.

Lastly our local manuhiri and iwi representatives Stephanie Tawha and Davika Wilson from Te Ahiwaru shared their current data and the programme of work they are carrying out with whanau in our community.  There is much to be done in terms of helping whanau during tough times and Te Ahiwaru are doing amazing mahi in this space.

Whakawhanaungatanga - Getting our community involved.

At Nga Iwi School we initiated a new whānau engagement programme to reengage parents with the school following the COVID pandemic. From 2020 our attendance and enrolments dropped and face to face engagement with whānau became nonexistent due to covid restrictions. Once these were lifted our focus was turned on engagement with both students and whānau.

In 2021 we introduced Tāma Toa and Wāhine Toa breakfasts where whānau shared breakfast with their eldest or only child in the school. We started with our mums/grandmas/aunties (wāhine), followed by our fathers/grandads/uncles (tāma toa). The breakfasts were a hit and we have held these events now in term 2 for the last 3 years.

At each event, we share kai (breakfast) with staff sitting with whanau growing relationships, getting to know each other. In terms of relationship-based learning, this adds to positive outcomes for our children. After we have finished eating, we invite the children to head out to the playground to play, opening our whānau to consultation. 

In our first year, we focused on the foundations for our student graduate profile. We received great feedback and excellent data to inform our profile which is now a living document and revisited and updated as our community grows and changes. 

Last year we sought feedback and input into the new strategic direction for our 2023-2025 strategic cycle. This data was invaluable in establishing the plan. The consultation was received with great appreciation from whānau who genuinely felt that they were contributing to our school's direction and were not shy in letting us know that they were pleased to be involved and felt heard. 

That process led us to this year's focus which was reporting back. Our most recent breakfast event has been an opportunity to give whānau the overview of what our school direction will look like for the next 3 years.  We covered vision, goals, initiatives and outcomes.  We invited a few guest speakers in our community to give information to whānau about programmes and initiatives that available to our school and then we finished with further consultation.  This consultation included our PE/Health biannual survey and feedback relating to our strategic plan for 2023.

The implementation of our whānau breakfasts has been a game changer in terms of establishing a stronger community through whakawhanaungatanga.  We constantly refer to our community as whānau and through a Pacific lens it takes a village to raise a child.  I encourage all who participate to get to know those who are at their table, look around because 'these are whanau of children that your tamariki count as their friends'.

One of the pillars of our strategic plan is 'whānau' and the goal is that Whānau will be connected and actively engaged in the learning of their tamariki.  The outcome will be whānau who have an interdependent learning relationship with tamariki and our kura.

Becoming part of a school community takes time, has to be planned and incorporated into the strategic direction of the school.  It's important to have the school board on board, attending school events, promoting them and connecting with whānau/parents across the school.