Hamilton Māori primary school students find their roots
Students of a small Hamilton Māori school celebrated 20 years since the school was founded in a day of fun along with teachers, parents and past students.
A Hamilton Māori primary school has celebrated its anniversary in Hillcrest, 20 years after starting out in a council building with only six students.
Tōku Māpihi Maurea Kura Kaupapa, the total immersion school, started in a building on Pembroke Street.
Two decades later and with 93 students, the family, staff and current and past students joined the festivities on Saturday.
The school is now on Silverdale Road, after moving to an old orchard there in 1995 with 20 students.
The day started at 7am with a karakia and then breakfast where it continued with planting trees, rides and kapa haka performances.
Children excitedly planted feijoa, apple and nectarine trees with their parents and grandparents, in a link to the orchard originally at the site.
Laura Hawksworth has been principal of the school for 13 years and said the students leave the school with confidence.
“Confident in their identity and confident with the Māori language,” she said.
Hawksworth said the students have been learning about the history of the school and the orchard this term.
“I think that has been good for the kids to hear about the history and the humble beginnings of our school,” she said.
Donna Barlow-Rolleston, the English teacher, said the school has come a long way.
“It is pretty amazing, they can read and write in two languages,” she said.
Barlow-Rolleston said the school was started because the parents wants their children to go somewhere after Te Kōhanga reo, a Māori family language programme.
She said when it started they had no Māori resources or funding from the Ministry of Education
“It came from hard, hard times where it was not a recognised school,” she said
The school was not subsidised by the government when it first began, but is now a recognised school with funding.
She said many of the students continue with their Māori education at Ngā Taiātea secondary school near the Hamilton Zoo.
