Our te reo Māori programme at Te Kura Mātauranga o Waimate (Waimate High School) allows te reo Māori to be a language that thrives in our kura. Learning te reo Māori at Te Kura Mātauranga o Waimate encourages us all to play our part in ensuring the Māori language is valued, appropriately considered, and prioritised as part of our learning programme. Learning te reo Māori supports the development of shared cultural understandings and strengthened sense of identity and place. Our Māori language programme is in keeping with the vision and values of Tau Mai Te Reo, Aotearoa, New Zealand’s Māori language in education strategy. ‘Kia tau te reo’, a state in which the language thrives and cloaks the land and people.

Our learning programme is a core curriculum subject in Years 7 to 10, with the opportunity to study either te reo Māori or Māori culture (or both) at NCEA level for Years 11 to 13. Our Year 7 and 8 programme is delivered through Homeroom. Our learning is guided by Te Aho Arataki Marau mo te ako i te Reo Māori, the curriculum guidelines for English medium schools. The delivery of te reo Māori is guided by the context of our school and the context of national celebrations promoting history and language revitalisation. For example, Waitangi Day, Matariki/Māori New Year, Te Wiki o te reo Māori/Māori language week and Ngā Manu Kōrero/Speech competitions.

By the end of Year 10, we aim to have all students prepared with a solid foundation and understanding of spoken, written, and oral Māori language, progressing between beginning to use te reo Māori (te whakatōtanga) and developing communication skills in te reo Māori (te tupuranga). A solid foundation will help to prepare our students at Waimate High for a continuation of their te reo journey in year 11 and beyond.

In Te reo Māori (Māori language), we are learning contextualised kupu and sentence structures to support everyday communication in te reo Māori. More particularly, the language of our kura, Te Kura Mātauranga o Te Waimatemate (Waimate High School).

In Te Ao Māori (Māori Culture), each term we will focus on an aspect of te ao Māori (the Māori world), with a particular focus on our local iwi (tribe) and hapū (subtribe of this area), te Rūnakā o Waihao.

We take an inquiry approach to our Māori culture studies to guide our student’s learning:

What are we learning?
Why are we learning it?
What will be the outcomes as a result of our learning?
What do we already know about what we are learning?
What do we need to know about what we are learning?
How will we get there?