A NEW PERSPECTIVE Te Reo in Year 9
The aim of the new Year 9 Te Reo programme is to ensure College becomes a school which embraces our New Zealand heritage and diversity.
Teacher Steve Everingham says it is essential to have a Te Reo class, as there is a strong appetite among parents and the community for such a programme. “It is a natural progression to take the three-day Year 9 immersion programme we have been running at the end of each year and to extend it,’’ he says. “Now, all Year 9 boys have two periods a week throughout the whole year, where they can spend more time experiencing Te Reo and Tikanga Maori – the Maori way of doing things. “In most New Zealand secondary schools, it is common practice to have powhiri and, as with the haka, it is important to do this properly and with meaning. By having all boys who enter the school receive a detailed analysis of Tikanga Maori, such as the etiquette of a powhiri, they come to understand the meaning of such ceremonies and the wider
cultural aspects.’’
“I’ve been wanting to get more understanding of Maori culture, especially Maori rights, the place of women, tribes and iwi. In fact, I would like to have a full Te Reo class and learn Maori as, after all, it is one of the languages of New Zealand. I’m enjoying it so much, I wish we could keep up the continuity over the week by having three periods instead of two.’’ For Callum Hackston, the best part has been that previously his study had been whole-class based, but the work this term has delved into how it relates to each boy personally, to his own heritage. “It’s important for us to understand the issues that face all our society, and to be able to be familiar with things such as the stages of a powhiri, to know exactly what is happening when and why, rather than to just be passive observers. Knowing the cultural meaning behind each
Most boys coming to College have some knowledge of Te Reo and Maori protocol from primary school, but the year-long programme aims to also look at wider issues, says Steve. Three Year 9 boys – George Geary, Claude Tellick and Callum Hackston – are enthusiastic about the new programme. George Geary says it has been really good as they have not just started with the basics, as they did at primary school. As well as learning Maori vocabulary and useful protocol, they have been looking at issues such as the Treaty of Waitangi. They have also been focusing on Maori society and how this has been changing over the past centuries. Claude Tellick says he has also been interested in what they have been studying this term.
Christ’s College Canterbury
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