On 25th May 2021, the school officially announced its new name "Te Kura o Wairau" with a dawn ceremony and a blessing.
To celebrate this re-naming, the school unveiled its new school sign and tohu/logo. Included in the ceremony was the opening of a new tomokanga / entranceway and a wānanga classroom space for Māori learning, called "Te Mokai o Tatau".
Four years ago the school started learning about its location and the local Māori history, then it started learning about the other ethnicities at the school.
During this time, Peter Te Rangi, of the Rangitāne iwi, helped guide support and the school during the learning journey. It was Peter who reasearched and found the name, and he was the one to gift it to the school, on behalf of Rangitane. "Te Kura o Wairau".
The name "Wairau" came from the first european surveyed map of the area. It was one of the areas between the Ōroua and Manawatū rivers, near the confluence of the two rivers at Rangiotū.
Peter said Wairau meant 100 streams, which referred to the many streams in the area before the time of european settlement, when drainage was dug and stop-banks built and the land was drained. The name also applied to the different backgrounds of children at the school.
“They have recaptured that name to represent the 100 streams of cultures and have children coming into the school, but also the hundreds of options that education can give children, to achieve what they want to achieve.”
Carver Craig Kawana, left, school principal Teena Johnson, project leader Israel Tangaroa Birch and designer Jessica Collins at the unveiling of the new entranceway.
The Tomokanga carving first depicts Māui. Then Kupe the first Polynesian to come to New Zealand, and Rangitāne ancestor Whātonga. Included in the carving are the memory of Te Māramatanga Grant-Plumridge, School board member, and Shane Rūwhiu, the school’s Kaumātua, both passed away before seeing the end of our learning journey.
The two pillars symbolize the school’s Māori and Pasifika representation.
Rangitāne Kaumātua, Wiremu Kingi Te Awe Awe, left, listens to project leader Israel Tangaroa Birch explain the details of the school’s new designs.
The whakapapa around Te Kura o Wairau, the school name, and the tohu/logo. They are both based on Rangitāne's migration and whakapapa.
Our tohu is so beautiful because it’s symbolic design ensures ‘all’ who are not mana whenua feel part of the kaupapa too. The straight lines of the kōwhaiwhai pattern that have been used are symbolic of many things.
• They symbolise our three maunga (Tararua, Ruahine, and Taikorea) of this area that surround and protect ‘Wairau’.
• They symbolise the Manawatū River that winds its way through the land and out to the ocean.
• They also represents Wairau, and the many tributaries of the awa/streams that feed the land. These streams symbolise our students and the many diverse cultures that make up the river of knowledge, in our school.
• They symbolise the three main streams (Taonui, Kawau and Mangaone) in this area.
• They symbolise the three ancient swamps (Roto nui o Hau, Taonui and Makurerua), which although now drained formed the food basket for the local iwi.
• They also symbolise and acknowledge the main waterways (Manawatu, Oroua, and Pohangina) which are a feature of the region.
• They are also a symbol that recognises the three main tribes of the regions (Rangitane, Ngati Apa and Ngati Kauwhata).
• They also symbolise the three points of the Polynesian triangle (Hawaii, Rapa Nui/Easter Island and Aotearoa).
The curved lines of the kōwhaiwhai pattern that have been used in our tohu is the Kōwhai-Ngutu-Kākā that refers to the plant.
This plant is a symbol of Spring.
• It refers to the symbolism of growth, and flourishing.
• This symbolises the child who not only grows but flourishes in all aspects of their life.
• This pattern also refers to a similar pattern used in Te Rangimārie Marae. The Kōwhai-Ngutu-Kākā also represents the taiao, taiao speaks to the natural environment that contains and surrounds us. It encompasses all of the environment and its offspring. Because we are born of the earth and it is born of us, we have an eternal connection to taiao – the earth, sky, air, water and life that is all interdependent.
• When the Kōwhai-Ngutu-Kākā flowers, it symbolises a time when the ocean is also changing, so it can represent kōrero taiao (communication), learning, sharing of knowledge, passing on stories and narratives.
• It also symbolises the legends and the histories of this area, as well as the narratives that we bring with us (Personal/Family/Tribal).
A big thanks to Inspire for the web sponsorship
Te Kura o Wairau © 2024