Giving Effect to Te Tiriti

Give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi at Geraldine Primary School

Geraldine Primary School celebrates New Zealand's cultural diversity and ensures that all students feel culturally safe and valued. Our cultural diversity is a valuable resource for 21st-century learning.

We celebrate and value a variety of cultures by recognising cultural difference, for example: 

integrating cultural perspectives through curriculum areas across all levels
convening parent support groups and meetings
accessing cultural advisors, cultural dance/food festivals
conducting classroom programmes incorporating different greetings.

We respect the unique position of Māori as tangata whenua (the indigenous people of New Zealand), mana whenua (local Maori) and te reo Māori (Māori language) as an official New Zealand language, in accordance with our commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi. In recognising the unique position of the Māori culture, we provide instruction in tikanga Māori (Māori culture) and te reo Māori for students.

We currently foster Māori culture through:

• teaching Te Reo Māori to an elementary level (greetings, counting,  mihi, basic vocabulary for everyday items, pronunciation and translation of place names)
• singing waiata in assemblies and in classrooms
• using resources in the curriculum which recognise New Zealand’s dual cultural heritage
• integrating Tikanga and Te Reo Māori through all curriculum areas where appropriate
• visits to marae and cultural centres, and fostering relationships with local iwi, kapa haka, miihi whakatau at the start of the year, bilingual signage around the school, our school pepeha on the two main entrances and a Māori whānau group.

If  whānau requests a higher level of Tikanga and / or Te Reo, staff and whānau will discuss and explore options.

At this kura we give effect by:

• Starting the day with our school karakia
• Using the karakia kai before morning tea and/or lunch
• 1 or 2 tamariki sharing their mihi with the class each day. Patai can also be used
• 1 or 2 kaiako sharing their mihi at syndicate hui and staff hui
• Using the kupu o te wiki at a set time each day or throughout the day
• Using a variety of greetings in Te Reo maori and expect that tamariki can respond to these
• Using appropriate kupu and phrases throughout the day which are understood by tamariki - counting colours, values, greetings, praise, basic commands
• Having the school values on display in English and Te Reo māori
• Having books and signage in Te reo Māori that are accessible around the school.