6 o Here-turi-kōkā 2021

Kia Orana Koutou katoatoa! 

I would like to acknowledge the formal apology given this week by our Prime Minister for the dawn raids of the 1970’s.

“Today I offered, on behalf of the Government, a formal and unreserved apology to Pacific communities for the discriminatory implementation of immigration laws that led to the Dawn Raids,” Jacinda Ardern said.

“The Dawn Raids period cast a shadow over our shared history.  Upholding immigration laws is one thing, but the Dawn Raids went well beyond that.

Whole communities felt targeted and terrorised. The raids were absolutely discriminatory.

“Expressing our sorrow, regret and remorse for past actions is the right thing to do and provides an opportunity for closure and reconciliation,” Jacinda Ardern said.

A sad and devastating historical event with its impacts still felt today -  but with the opportunity now to begin that pathway of healing for the country so desperately needed. I would recommend (particularly for our Year 5 & 6 students) the novel; Dawn Raids by Pauline (Vaeluaga) Smith. The book carries powerful themes of friendship and family, civil rights, and fairness, and powerful characters. It also provides a context for an important part of Aotearoa New Zealand’s history.

Cook Islands Maori Language Week

The annual ‘Epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki ’Āirani: Cook Islands Language Week has been celebrated in Aotearoa this week.  This year's theme is ‘Ātuitui’ia au ki te Oneone o tōku ‘Ui Tupuna which means, connect me to the soil of my ancestors. What a fantastic theme to ignite family conversations about ancestry and sharing with our children where our own individual families originate from and the rich history of language, culture and the arts associated therein.  

Aotearoa New Zealand’s Histories

At Woodlands Park School we are excited that from 2022 onwards, Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories will be taught in all schools.

The curriculum content embraces the histories of all the people who live in Aotearoa New Zealand and we are in the process of  developing a local curriculum and marau ā-kura that reflect the histories of our own community. 

Learning Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories will help our students understand there are multiple perspectives on historical and contemporary events and help them develop their critical thinking and inquiry skills.

NZPF 

This week Nick Gill and I attended the National NZ Principals Federation Conference. With over 700 Principals in attendance from across NZ it was an uplifting and engaging 4 days. The keynote speakers included our Associate Minister  for Education, Sir Ian Taylor,  Dr Michelle Johansson, Filivaifale Jason Swann (Principal Otahuhu School) , Bali Haque and Rawiri Waru. Of particular note was the commitment from Sir Ian Taylor to support the new Aotearoa histories curriculum. Ian and his team have developed the opportunity to use technology to tell the stories of the past through Te Mātauranga - Ake Mai https://maatauranga.co.nz/ , which Woodlands Park School look forward to utilising in 2022. 

Book Week

Our students have had an action packed week celebrating Woodlands Park’s 3rd Book Week since 2019. From literature quizzes to guest authors, surprise readers, our book fair through to our famous character parade, we hope to have achieved our goal of promoting our love of reading and books.

Next week, we have a number of teachers, deputy principals and principals from across Auckland visiting our school. They are keen to hear the narrative about the implementation of Te Ao Māori and Hau Ora over the last 2 years at Woodlands Park. We will be sharing our journey with the implementation of our values, the principles that sit behind ‘whanau’ (Kowhai, Pohutukawa and Harakeke) as well as our commitment to te reo Māori me ona tikanga (language and culture). This is a fantastic opportunity to showcase our beautiful school and to reflect just how awesome we think our students and staff are! 

Finally, I want to thank you all for attending our learning conversations today - I hope you have come away confident with your child’s progress in learning and you have enjoyed the sharing of their next steps and goals with you.

Nga mihi,

Nardz Stephenson

Principal