A special morning for the Hine Paaka Team; Emily Lovett, Lisa Elliott, Bridget Prendergast, and Glenda Dawson in Ashburton, Mid Canterbury, featured an official dawn blessing alongside Linda Miller, our Tumuaki; Learne McArthur, our Tumuaki Tuaru; and Matt Bateman, our Kaiwhakatere Māori.
A special shout-out to the Ashburton team for such a beautiful taonga for the new classroom. Your words and whakatauki shared were so very fitting and symbolise the movement of ākonga in your space, representing new beginnings and growth. Thank you all for your part in making this morning happen.
To convey manaakitanga and aroha, our Ashburton kaiako wanted to gift this taonga to show respect and gratitude to our rangatira coming down to bless our new classroom. The koru represents new beginnings, growth and regeneration. It symbolises the fern frond seen in New Zealand’s native bush.
Ka hinga atu he tetekura. Ka hara mai he tetekura. As one fern frond dies, one is born to take its place.
Jo Kennard
Kaihautū (Team Leader) Hine paaka | Mid-Canterbury & Selwyn
