Te hui Ahurei o ngā kura o Te Tai Poutini
16 Sep
What an amazing day it was! Thank you to every single person who helped to make this revered event happen for the community. It really was a whole community effort.
The magic of Te hui Ahurei o ngā kura o Te Tai Poutini is not just on the stage. But Whakataerangi White and Ani Mason did an incredible job with our kapa haka roopu (team). Forrest in year 9 leading and Joe Tauwhare going so hard in the haka he drew blood! The whole team was heroic and, with thoughtful guidance, have grown so much in the months of training they put into this. I’m sure I was not the only one welling up with tears of pride as they performed. As teachers we know that progress is often more important than an outcome and my goodness the progress of our new blood was phenomenal and the efforts they were inspired to commit to get there, exemplary.
But behind the scenes the hall was transformed with a combined effort of thousands of hours of crafting by so many whanau, Mrs O’Malley’s class Jelly fish, Ms Roper’s amazing textured river paintings, Dr Colin’s and his fish mobile, Mr Minnaar’s Fish, Mrs Reeves even helped us to find Nemo. The list of whanau and classes who went cross curricular to craft things learning news skills was so long I can’t mention them all here for fear of missing someone out.
More than that we had the heroic Kade Scadden who heard the call of meat being required so left for the hills only to physically carry out, on his own back, 3 deer to be butchered expertly by Mr Talbot and ready to be on the BBQ manned by Liam Diplock with his mum proudly over his shoulder and his sister, Jeannelize, leading the team of barristers who did so well; I hear Ms McClure had to buy the local 4 Square out of milk and additional coffee beans and we still ran out of coffee by 2pm.
The whole day was just full of staff and students living our school values. Manaakitanga, in my humble opinion, is most easily summarized in English as generosity. With that in mind Manaakitanga was on display in everything I saw. People’s generosity of time, coming in all hours over the weekend, people sharing their talents, in baking, cooking, organising security, the list goes on. But also people with full schedules and when all the sudden we need a set of stairs, no problem, Mr Ram to the rescue knocking up two sets of stairs within an afternoon.
The senior students were on duty for the whole day consistently solving a myriad complex problems organised by our very own Mrs Reeves and Mrs Kennedy, all of whom were shining, walking adverts for our Kura. Our students seemed unflappable and no problem was ever too challenging for them to solve, as noted with pride by several community members.
I could not thank Becks enough here, or anywhere…, she fed hundreds of people. She baked and prepped for weeks to make sure we fulfilled our duty as good hosts. There is a thing for rugby players where we say no game was ever a disaster as long as the feed was good. Well Becks made sure everyone, was fed with cake, slices and hot pots on the boil all day with nutritious and hearty food. Not just the hundreds of hours of prep and cooking but on the day making sure everyone was looked after along with Pete in our own house of kindness which earned its title that day, as ever.
Abby from WestREAP seemed to be competing with Whaea C for most hours at school, consistently organising us and working along side us from the first meeting to the turning out of the lights.
Whaea needs a mention but she would not forgive me if I didn’t thank the MC’s Toihi, and Henare who are both alumni and Kahu. Additionally the tukutuku panels which represented huge amounts of time and learning from Whaea C’s class, particular shout out here to Brax, Levi and Kanye whose late nights paid off as central decorations for the show.
Pierson Scaffolding saving us at the last minute by building the world’s strongest stage! Brijen and Mr Clark dropping everything on the weekend to help put up the curtain and decorations even though they had soccer and other commitments.
Brian who was a mentor, uncle and kaumatua to all but particularly in problem solving and lateral thinking which saved us hundreds of hours of mistakes and gave us the time and energy to get the gym complete on time.
Everywhere I turned we had a different member of the community and staff putting in double shifts showing their generosity, truly living our school values, all of us inspired to put in that hard work as a result of our Whaea C. None of this was possible without her vision, determination and dedication. The staff sung for her in organic appreciation of her efforts which was fitting. But there is no way to summarise her efforts. I mean who looks at our gym, functional that it is, and envisions the love triangle that is Tamaahua, Waitaiki, Poutini. Who looks at that wooden floor and sees a 20m Taniwha being chased while courting his love. Who looks at that space and thinks, about 30 mangō/sharks and 10 turtles swimming around the hall? Whaea made the hall an immersive art installation which lifted the spirits of all who came to our kura.
I know she is reading this frustrated that any of the light she shone has reflected back upon herself but it would be ridiculous not to speak the truth. I, however, move on to save anyone’s blushes.
Shanae, and her team, Ms Mallinson, Mr Dutt and Mr Ram making backstage work like a swiss clock. Archie despite his injuries turning up to fix any tech issues, Ms Veale leading the live stream team. Ms Pringle, Ms McKee, Mrs McMullan and Sasha for the door work and being everywhere when they were needed. Dr Collins and his team for the vital tallying of results. The list seems endless because it is. I have missed people all of whom contributed to the success that was tangible, palpable to anyone who could see the smiles on faces and awe in the eyes of those walking around our kura.
Every single member of our team showed huge amounts of manaakitanga, they uplifted the mana of our kura in the eyes of the community.
I will leave you with the overheard words of a gentleman in his 60’s “…But look at these kids, every last one a walking advertisement for the school.” Yep. Every one of you. A walking advertisement for the school and community. Ka mau te wehi! We caught the wonder team. Ka mau te wehi!
A not from Whaea C…..
A huge thank you to:
PPTA Te Wehenga Rua, Fulton Hogan, Fusion Networks, Kete Kai, Kai Puku, Westland Greenstone, Department of Conservation, Te Whare Atawhai, Te Whatu Ora: Health New Zealand, WestREAP, Hokitika Primary School, Flippen Lekker – SAFFA Shack, Westland High School Staff, whānau classes and our Middle School Art students. Joe Mason Arahura Rangatahi Komiti, Kia ora Hauora. Pierson Scaffolding. West Coast Hunters, Ngā Pākihi Whakatekateka o Waitaha Cultural Council and Te Tai O Poutini Māori Wardens.
Thank you to our stall holders:
Te Wehengarua PPTA, Bonz n Stonz, Sports Canterbury, Hokitika Scenic Tours,
Te Whatu Ora (Health New Zealand) Poutini Waiora (Immunisation) Penguin Trust, Department of Conservation, Development West Coast, West Coast Rugby Union, Te Taari Taake (Inland Revenue) WestREAP.
And thank you to all of the staff and students from Westland High School
The organising committee are deeply grateful to Mike Waller for his outstanding support in preparing the gym for Te Hui Ahurei. Mike not only supervised the setting up with calm leadership but also ensured the scaffolding crew and students were well fed and cared for. His ability to soothe nerves, lift spirits, and encourage everyone made a huge difference. Thank you, Mike, for your generosity, hard work, and aroha. You truly kept the team moving forward with heart.