Tapawera Area School
Region: Nelson/Marlborough/West Coast
Art form: Visual Arts
Project name: Ngā Hīkoi (journeys)
Creative name:
Project information: Currently we have little in our school grounds that represents or reflects Māori culture, despite our school having 38% Māori students. We are keen to embed biculturalism in every aspect of our school, and explicitly value Māori achieving as Māori. In the last two years we have started kapa haka, with powerful student engagement, and have been working closely with the Māori Achievement Collaborative. The next step is to reflect our goals in a rich physical environment which ākonga, community, iwi, and whānau have an active role in creating.
Our project aim is to create rich learning experiences through the theme ngā hīkoi, journeys. We will create a welcoming Waharoa for all visitors to our kura, which will reflect metaphorically on the journey of the young people who enter this place. They enter te kura Tapawera as a place of learning, a portal that offers a pathway into their future lives.
We would ultimately like to create Kaitiaki Pou for all our School’s projected Enviro Gardens: edible, Matariki, native, etc. The pou will connect directly to the theme of ngā hīkoi, in this case our enviro journey.
Our local creative is passionate about ākonga workshopping ideas. He will use the design process with our ākonga to create an impactful, contemporary, long-lasting, and low maintenance Waharoa and Kaitiaki Pou. Students will design and make mini 3D Waharoa and be engaged in each step in the process. The creative outcome and student experience will be authentic, relevant, and reflect best practice. This project has the support of Ngāti Apa Ki Te Ra To, the owners of the land on which the kura sits, and the project will be developed in conjunction with them. Ngāti Apa will use the opportunity to install a Kohatu Mauri on the school grounds. This project will support our Enviroschools kaupapa of empowered students, learning for sustainability, Māori perspectives, respect for the diversity of people and cultures, and sustainable communities.
Project starting: February 2022
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