At our final board hui of 2025, my newly elected board voted to formally write to Education Minister Erica Stanford outlining why we will continue to give effect to Tiriti o Waitangi.
Our reasons were expressed as follows:
Our Board represents a kura of 330 tamariki – 51 per cent of whom are tamariki Māori. 95 of our akonga learn in rumaki reo Māori within Te Whānau Harakeke. For us, enacting Te Tiriti is not an obligation but a living framework that underpins identity, our kuraSHINE values, wellbeing, curriculum, equity, and the purpose of education in Aotearoa New Zealand. Consultation with our whānau in 2025 reaffirms support for our commitment to Te Ao Māori.
As a kura we work in partnership with Patuharakeke whom we recognise as mana whenua. Te Tiriti o Waitangi guides how we honour the rights, languages, histories, and pūrakau and stories of Māori as tangata whenua. Te Tiriti is the basis of our relationships as tangata whenua, pākehā, and tauiwi – thus enacting Te Tiriti ensures that all of our kura whānau can thrive. Our Board will continue to uphold and give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi in both governance and operations.
Compiled by lawyer Tania Waikato, Te Rārangi Rangatira is a list of schools that have declared they will continue to give effect to Tiriti o Waitangi. According to the last publication of the list prior to the Christmas break, this number was at 1,840. That’s out of the 2,536 state, state-integrated, private, and charter schools in New Zealand (Education Counts, as at 1 June 2025).
Despite this significant response from school Boards to Erica Stanford’s directive removing Te Tiriti obligations from them, when asked in Parliament by Labour’s Education Spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime about whether she thinks that this response shows she got it wrong, she stated, “No – we made it very, very clear to schools what they needed to do and the first thing is raise Māori achievement.” For me, this statement very clearly indicates the deficit lens through which Minister Stanford views Māori students and their achievement. It is through Te Tiriti that Māori have a voice at the table to work in partnership with school Boards, and it is through enacting Te Tiriti that school Boards can challenge the effects of colonisation that have impacted Māori student outcomes. As Hine Waitere, Director Indigenous Leadership Centre at Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi, says so succinctly, “If Māori are not at the table, we are on the menu”.
The effects of the removal of Te Tiriti o Waitangi from Section 127 of the Education and Training Act are explored by Bevan Holloway, a member of the Aotearoa Educators Collective, in his excellent article How to Keep Te Tiriti Alive in Your School Until 2027. His article concludes:
There is a glimmer of hope. The select committee report, prepared before the last minute amendment that removed Te Tiriti from these sections, recommended the date for the adoption of new strategic plans be moved out a year, until 2027. Erica Stanford accepted this recommendation. In the debate, Willow-Jean Prime pointed out that this meant boards got another year to operate under their existing (Te Tiriti-infused) strategic plans. Because you are able to operate with your existing strategic plan for another year, you have a legal way to delay the effects (adoption?) of these legislative changes. For a year longer than Minister Stanford wanted, Te Tiriti is legally alive in your school. All you have to do is not change your plan. Take that opportunity. A lot can change in a year.
So, what will we be doing ia rā, ia rā – everyday – to keep Te Tiriti alive in our kura?
Engaging in respectful relationships with mana whenua
Te Tiriti is the basis of the relationship between Māori and Pākehā in Aotearoa – so we will be keeping that relationship alive. We will start the year with a blessing of the new ingoa of our classrooms. That naming process has been consultative from start to finish. The iwi in our rohe is Patuharakeke and the classroom names are based on the process of raranga – weaving – of harakeke. We took tamariki to the marae to learn and we hired a pakihi Māori video company to capture the processes of raranga that would become our classroom names. Importantly, we budgeted so that we paid for the pukenga of those whose expertise we needed. If you could not get a plumber to work for a kapu tī and a Lamington – do not expect that of iwi.
Engaging in consistent tikanga practices
Every day in every class in both English and Māori medium, we start with a Hui Whakapuare to open our day. There is a Google Site resource shared with all kaiako to support them with karakia and waiata; the holder of our Cultural Leadership Allowance teaches, maintains, and adds to this resource.
Every week when our kura assembles, a class runs the taumata.
Every term, two new cohorts of 5-year-olds enter our kura and we hold a pōwhiri in weeks one and five to welcome new whānau to our kura. The way this pōwhiri occurs is led by iwi and we teach our community about the pōwhiri process.
Extending our use of te reo Māori
Every hui for staff begins with a lesson in te reo Māori – this is our kaupapa matua and happens regardless of who is presenting. At present, we are playing the game Tākaro together. This learning then extends into the classroom.
We noticed that tamariki in our rumaki classes were way more confident in our haka pōwhiri than our tamariki in English medium. In our whānau groups we set the challenge to whakapiki our haka pōwhiri – this allowed our student leaders to take a teaching role (ako in action!). The Whakataetae Haka Pōwhiri was a fun end of term celebration.
Extending our Mātauranga Māori
We purchased the digital maramataka – Māori lunar calendar – and added this to our Google Calendar. Sometimes we just notice the “high energy” days and how they look in our kura. When planning important events, we are trying to use the maramataka.
We have made the commitment that every tamaiti in our kura will understand the kawa of our marae and have had the opportunity for a noho marae before they leave us after Year 6.
Building my own knowledge, capability and support networks
Finally, the support of our board – poari – is important because there are those in every community who feel threatened by this commitment to enact Te Tiriti and fear that empowering tamariki Māori will come at a loss to someone else. Responding calmly and confidently takes practice. I’m attending the 2026 Te Tiriti Based Futures + Anti-racism online conference in late March as part of my professional learning and development agenda.
The whakatauki adopted for this kaupapa is one we can all usefully take into the year ahead.
Hei Kanohi Mataara Eyes wide open
Hei ringa whiti Hands warm, ready for action