Nā Hora Nicholas tēnei atikara.
Kura kaupapa Māori students push ahead with Te Hākori this week in Ōtautahi, bringing together 120 kura waenga students from across Te Waipounamu for sport and whakawhanaungatanga despite ongoing funding pressures. This year the event was organised by Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Waitaha known as Te Kura Whakapūmau i te Reo Tūturu ki Waitaha.
“Mōhio pū ana mātou e mimiti haere ana te pūtea e tautoko ana i ēnei tūāhuatanga i waenganui i a mātou ngā Kura Kaupapa o Te Waka, hoi anō ko te moemoea kia haere tonu.”
Rangi Tūtengaehe, Pouārahi of Te Kura Tuatahi o Te Kura Whakapūmau, says the kaupapa is much bigger than funding and the priority remains clear.
Te Hākori brings together Year 7 and 8 students from five kura kaupapa across Te Waipounamu, including Te Kura Whakapūmau, Te Whānau Tahi, Te Wharekura o Arowhenua, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ōtepoti, and Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Tuia te Matangi.
For students, the week is centred on sport, language, and connection. This year activities included Kī-o-Rahi, netball, dodgeball, and manu competitions, alongside daily use of te reo Māori.
Te Kura Whakapūmau Year 8 student Breeze Hutana-Waitoa, who affiliates to Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Porou and Rongowhakaata, said the event is a great place to make friends with other like minded tamariki/rangatahi.
“Karo pōro, netipōro, ngā whakataetae manu…” He said the day 1 sporting events were some of his highlights on the schedule for the week.
The event also prepares intermediate students for future inter-kura sport exchanges such as Te Wiki Hākinakina, a week-long bi-annual sporting event which brings together kura tuarua students from Kura Kaupapa nationwide. Tūtengaehe said one of the challenges is maintaining consistent te reo Māori use throughout the week, particularly as students move between school and sporting environments.
“Ahakoa he tamariki kura kaupapa Māori ēnei tamariki, kei te kuhukuhu mai, kei te uruuru tonu mai te reo Pākehā… ka nui tā mātou whakamaumahara i a rātou ki te kōrero Māori.”
But, Waikaramu Rangi, a Year 7 student at Te Kura Whakapūmau, says adjusting to language environments takes practice, a practice she is mastering.
“I whāngai ōku kura i te reo Māori me ōku kaiako i ngā wā katoa, nō reira, he māmā.”
The event, first held in Ōtautahi in 2023, has since rotated between hosts in Murihiku, Ōtepōti and Waitaha, and this is the first time it has returned to Christchurch.
This week’s programme also included a visit to Kaiapoi Pā, a place of great significance to mana whenua, Ngāi Tūāhuriri, before preparing for a cowboy themed disco to close the week.
Organisers say Te Hākori remains a key space for kura kaupapa Māori students to strengthen language, identity, and connection through sport, even as funding challenges persist.
|
|
|
Kei te anga whakamua ngā ākonga Kura Kaupapa Māori ki Te Hākori, i Ōtautahi, e whakakotahi ana i ngā ākonga kura waenga nō ngā pito katoa o Te Waipounamu mō te hākinakina me te whakawhanaungatanga, ahakoa ngā here pūtea e haere tonu ana.
Nō tēnei wiki, e 120 ngā ākonga kura waenga i hui ki Ōtautahi mō tētahi wiki o te hākinakina me te whakawhanaungatanga, nā Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Waitaha i whakahaere, arā ko Te Kura Whakapūmau i te Reo Tūturu ki Waitaha.
“Mōhio pū ana mātou e mimiti haere ana te pūtea e tautoko ana i ēnei tūāhuatanga i waenganui i a mātou ngā Kura Kaupapa o Te Waka, heoi anō, ko te moemoeā kia haere tonu.”
E ai ki te Pouārahi o Te Kura Tuatahi o Te Kura Whakapūmau a Rangi Tūtengaehe, he nui ake te kaupapa, i te pūtea, ā, e mārama tonu ana rātou i te aronga matua.
Ka whakakotahi a Te Hākori i ngā ākonga Tau 7 me Tau 8 nō ngā kura kaupapa e rima puta noa i Te Waipounamu: Te Kura Whakapūmau, Te Whānau Tahi, Te Wharekura o Arowhenua, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ōtepoti, me Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Tuia te Matangi.
Ko te aronga o te wiki ko te hākinakina, te reo, me te whakawhanaungatanga o ngā ākonga. I tēnei tau i uru atu ngā mahi pērā i te Kī-o-Rahi, te poitarawhiti, te karopōro, ngā whakataetae manu, me te whakamahi tonu i te reo Māori i ia rā.
E ai ki te ākonga Tau 8 a Breeze Hutana-Waitoa (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Porou, Rongowhakaata), he wāhi pai te kaupapa nei ki te whai hoa ki ētahi atu tamariki/rangatahi.
“Te netipōro, te dodgeball, me ngā whakataetae manu…” i kī ia ko ngā mahi o te rā tuatahi ētahi o āna tino wāhanga.
Ka whakarite hoki te kaupapa nei i ngā ākonga kura waenga mō ngā whakawhitinga hākinakina ā kura pērā i Te Wiki Hākinakina, he kaupapa hākinakina, e hui ai ngā ākonga kura tuarua o ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori puta noa i te motu. I kī a Tūtengaehe ko tētahi wero ko te pupuri i te whakamahi tonutanga o te reo Māori i te roanga o te wiki, ina koa ka neke haere ngā ākonga i waenga i te kura me ngā wāhi hākinakina.
“Ahakoa he tamariki kura kaupapa Māori ēnei tamariki, kei te kuhukuhu mai tonu te reo Pākehā… ka nui tā mātou whakamahara i a rātou ki te kōrero Māori.”
Heoi, e ai ki a Waikaramu Rangi, he ākonga Tau 7 o Te Kura Whakapūmau, me ako rātou ki te urutau ki ngā horopaki reo, ā, kei te pakari haere ia i taua pūkenga.
“I whāngai ōku kura i te reo Māori, me ōku kaiako, i ngā wā katoa nō reira, he māmā.”
I tīmata te kaupapa i Ōtautahi i te tau 2023, ā, mai i reira kua huri haere ki Murihiku, Ōtepōti me Waitaha, ā, koinei te wā tuatahi kua hoki mai te kaupapa ki Ōtautahi.
I te Rāapa i haere rātou ki Kaiapoi Pā, he wāhi tino hira ki te mana whenua o Ngāi Tūāhuriri, ā, ka mutu te Rāapa mā tētahi pō kanikani kaupoai.
E ai ki ngā kaiwhakarite, he wāhi hira tonu a Te Hākori mō ngā ākonga Kura Kaupapa Māori ki te whakapakari i te reo, te tuakiritanga, me ngā hononga ā kura mā te hākinakina, ahakoa kei te pā tonu ngā wero pūtea.