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Camera in one hand, laptop in the other, I stride to the front gate of Frimley School. Two youngsters on scooters are headed for the same gate. ‘Morena whaea!’ they smile in unison. They stand back. ‘Kia ora e ngā tāmariki,’ I reply, immediately warming to my new friends. We introduce ourselves, chat a bit and I ask directions for the school office. My new buddies offer to walk me there and we continue our chatter on the way.
Manaakitanga is not just an of Ranginui and Papatuanuku and includes aspiration at Frimley Primary. It’s a living, symbolism from maunga to moana. breathing value. As a stranger visiting the ‘The pou symbolises everything we are school, you instantly know it. You are trying to achieve here at Frimley School,’ immediately respected, valued and looked says Tim, ‘which makes it a very precious after. You are not just welcome here; you taonga for us all.’ quickly feel like this has always been your He is also proud of the way the Whānau place. Māori Rōpū supports and guides the senior I meet the school Tumuaki, Tim White. leadership of the school and how every staff Connecting is easy. We don’t have to play member is taking weekly classes in te reo out the trivial niceties because I’m already me ngā tīkanga and learning Kahungunu one of the whānau. The tamariki at the specific waiata. The links between Ngāti front gate have seen to that. Kahungunu, and the school are very Tim tells me Frimley is a decile four, strong, he explains. contributing primary school of around It is a buzzing thriving school, right 570-600 students. He talks about the now basking in the honour of winning school pou – Te Wao Tapu Nui – standing the prestigious top prize in the Prime tall at the entrance to the school. ‘The pou Minister’s Education Excellence Awards The school pou Te Wao tapu nui stands is a physical and spiritual link with mana for 2021. Frimley School also won the proudly at the front entrance to the school whenua,’ he explains, ‘and was carved Excellence in Teaching and Learning especially for us by our artist in residence, master carver, Nathan Award. Each prize comes with a financial reward for the school Foote.’ and PLD opportunities. The Prime Minister’s award brings an Nathan took the rakau, gifted to the school from Matariki additional $30,000. Forestry and transformed it into the pou which tells the story Tim is proud that the school has been recognised in this way
Frimley Primary wins the Prime Minister’s Supreme Award and the Teaching Excellence Award for 2021
The conch shell, sometimes used at Powhiri celebrations and also played by some Indian and Samoan students
The ageing trees provide a generous canopy to shelter the children from the summer heat
but doesn’t make a big deal of the accolades. He is much more every child to feel valued and cared for and he wanted every child interested in telling the story of how the school community – to experience success in life and in learning. his board, senior leaders, teachers, support staff and tamariki The school’s roll demographic for 2020 shows 36.8% Māori, – embarked on a transformational cultural journey, beginning more than half of whom whakapapa to Ngāti Kahungunu, 32.6% in 2016. He is quick to acknowledge the many organisations, NZ Pākehā, 7.8% Pasifika, 12.7% Indian, 7% Asian and 3% other. facilitators and cultural experts who supported and advised By 2021 the total school roll was growing, as was the Māori roll them along the way. and there were 74 students receiving ESOL funding. The school recognised that its community had significantly The Board set out to consult with the school community, changed as the roll grew and the school’s curriculum and what it valued as success hadn’t evolved. It felt that some learners were not experiencing a relevant curriculum and a strong sense of belonging to the school. The families actively involved in the school were not now representative of the new school community. Tim wanted to find a way through these inequities. He wanted to celebrate the growing multi-cultural mix of his students. Although the academic achievement overall was judged by ERO as satisfactory, it had reached a plateau and he wanted to address the gaps between Māori achievement and that of other students. He wanted Frimley School is a proudly multi-cultural Hastings school
Its great to be out of the classroom and under the generous shade of the big playground trees
developing strategies to ensure Māori voice was heard. The experience success; and strong partnerships would be built resulting strategic plan created a pathway to begin the process with whānau. of transformation. The school’s strategic plan would Frimley Primary would change and focus on the needs of the whole child become a place where all tamariki rather than just their academic lives. felt at home; where every child Alongside this process came an had their place and valued their exploration of the Ngāti Kahungunu language, culture and identity. A Matauranga strategy (Te Tōpuni core strategy was to emphasise the Tauwhainga) which led to a new value of strengthening the school’s place-based curriculum. te reo Māori me ngā tīkanga so that Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, tamariki would be strong and secure engari he toa takitini – Success is in who they are. Alongside this not the work of an individual but goal was strengthening the school’s the work of many. wellbeing strategies. Tim wanted The second step was a change them to feel healthy, happy and be to the school values to guide contributing members of the school behaviours and attitudes. The values whānau. He argued that only when give solid foundation to guide and these goals were achieved would we strengthen the aspirations of the see achievement rising and inequities whole school community. All of reduced. this was consistent with what would It was an ambitious undertaking. become the new school values of Tim knew he would need help. This Rangatiratanga, Whanaungatanga, would have to be a team effort, Kaitiakitanga and Manaakitanga. and he and the Board would need To gain better understanding, the support and advice of the local wellbeing surveys were constructed Frimley School Values kaumatua, kuia, hapu and iwi, the to capture whānau and student commitment of staff and the parent community. voice. The findings confirmed that not all tamariki and whānau Changes would occur at many levels and all through team had a strong sense of identity. Students were struggling to form effort. The first step was comprehensive consultation to set the relationships, were not always treating each other respectfully strategic plan. Once goals were set the way ahead was clear. or including those who were feeling left out. A level of bullying Learning would be fun and meaningful; all tamariki would continued and the children did not see how the (old) school
The tipuna adorn the classroom walls, just as they do in the wharenui
values were guiding them. Some whānau did not feel they had a place within the school. Planned changes soon became actions, all of which I was privileged to witness on a tour of the school with Deputy Principal, Ngahina Transom. ‘In line with our values and our new strategic plan, we had to alter the organisational structures of the school,’ said Ngahina. ‘We have four learning communities now and each learning community has six classes.’ The learning communities are dual level and are made up of paired classrooms. We visit one space of year five and six tamariki. ‘The children stay for two years with the same teachers,’ she explained. This concept of younger working with older children comes from a Te Ao Māori practice, resembling a buddy system, called tuakana teina. The older or more expert tuakana help and guide the younger or less expert teina. Sometimes these roles may reverse as different kinds of knowledge are shared. ‘It is not just the teachers who are teaching,’ explains Ngahina. ‘Teaching and learning is more like an expression of whanaungatanga. We operate like a big family,’ she said. ‘Power sharing and Ako are central to our classroom teaching. It is a culturally responsive practice where teachers learn from the children and vice versa. Whānau knowledge is added to the mix giving children agency as they learn from each other.’ Another feature of the classrooms is seeing photographs of the children’s tipuna up on the walls, as you might see in a wharenui. ‘These are the children’s nannies, the koro (grandfather) and the great uncles and aunties,’ explains Ngahina. ‘They are highly respected and if a child was being rude or cheeky in class, you just have to gaze at their tipuna and say, “I wonder what your Nan or Koro would have to say about that behaviour?”’ ‘That is usually enough for the child to pull themselves back into line,’ she said. This change could only work with the cooperation of the teachers. ‘We are so fortunate to have all our teachers on board with this cultural change,’ says Ngahina. ‘We are a mainstream English medium school, yet every one of our teachers is taking
responsibility for learning te reo me ngā tīkanga. Our teachers are modelling the values we want our tamariki to adopt. They are the learners too and have Te Reo goals for their personal and professional lives,’ she explains.
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The Master carver explains pounamu carving to the year six school leaders
The teachers are not only enculturating themselves through Te Reo learning, every Teacher Only Day for PLD includes a sleep-over on the marae and the local kaumatua has declared that the marae is also the school’s marae, the teachers’ marae. With a holistic approach to teaching and learning and the adoption of a place-based curriculum, teachers have also embarked on a journey of discovery, learning about the local places that have significance for Ngati Kahungunu iwi. ‘Ngati Kahungunu hapu and whānau helped construct our curriculum and that includes telling our stories’, explains Ngahina. ‘Our teachers and children learn about the Takitimu waka’s journey to this place, how it found its way to Āotearoa, by observing the patterns of bird behaviours, whales and sea life and using navigation skills.’ ‘Our teachers get a lavish budget to go out to the whenua and
All Teacher Only Days are held on the local marae
hear the stories of how it got its name, how we can learn to be kaitiaki of it, how it has nourished the people across the ages and will continue to do so, if we look after it and protect it.’ ‘All of our classrooms have been given significant Māori ingoa (names), which come from the local tauparapara reflecting mana whenua. Each day begins with karakia – a quiet time to reflect and be ready for the day. We also support every child to learn their pepeha,’ she said, ‘because knowing who you are and where you come from is valued for every learner.” Identity is well celebrated in every classroom with displays of the children’s pepeha prominent in every room. Some, separately, explain how they acquired their names. Most follow the pattern of naming the waka their ancestors arrived in, the river and mountain with which they identify, the names of their parents and their own name. Some of the children, however, are recent migrants. Everyone is important and the arrival of whānau in Āotearoa is noted. The celebration of names is a special part of whanaungatanga and teachers encourage children to share the background to their names with their class mates. As we move about the school, we come across a group of year six students, the school’s house leaders, gathered around a pounamu carver. He is explaining to them that he will be supporting them to carve a personal pounamu, a taonga in recognition of their mana and they will receive this when they leave the school. We meet up again with Tim as we complete our school tour. He talks about some other initiatives introduced since the cultural changes were embedded. ‘With our holistic focus, we now employ
Boys learn their baking skills from the Nans
a full-time practice nurse for the health and wellbeing of our tamariki so they can be strong and healthy,” he explains. ‘We also have a Te Ao Māori healer at the school,” he says, ‘who uses a combination of Māori pūrākau therapy and connection for those tamariki who have experienced grief or trauma in their lives or are finding managing their behaviour difficult. This is one of the Manaaki tamariki programmes we offer,” he explains. ‘Nannies or kuia work with our children too. The mahi poi group learn to make poi, learn the tīkanga behind the poi dance and learn to give to others. Similarly, there is the mahi tukutuku – a nanny teaches the children cross stitch, which is the foundation skill for making tukutuku panels. There is also kai time. This teaches the children how to cook and bake in the kitchen and then share their cooking with others,’ he said. These activities are expressions of the values of manaakitanga and rangatirotanga. My morning ends with the staff gathering in the hall, as Ngahina introduces Nan and her group of bakers, thanks t hem for providing our
morning tea and blesses the food for us all to enjoy. I won’t head back to the front gate after morning tea. I’m not ready to leave my new home, my place. I shall return upstairs to learn more about the conch shell, gifted to the school and used in pōwhiri ceremonies, but also central to ceremonies in Indian and Samoan cultures. Just so much to learn, to share, to protect and to care about. That’s life at Frimley Primary.
Deputy Principal Ngahina Transom blesses the morning tea prepared by Nan and the children
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