Te Wharekura o Te Kaokaoroa o Pātetere welcomed students and representatives of the Learning Tree International School from Tokyo as a part of a cultural exchange between the two kura.
“I was touched and moved. The energy and spirit it’s amazing, like I felt like I lived here before in my past life or something,” says Principal Representative Director, Fumi Masaki.
For 3 days the students and representatives will participate in sharing one another’s culture with Te Wharekura o Te Kaokaoroa o Pātetere. According to Masaki, her goal is to connect and learn about the lifestyle.
“Be connected with those people I met this morning and I want to learn what the purpose and the motives of their lives are here in the Māori school,” Masaki says.
He tāutuutu i waenganui i ngā ahurea e rua
Kua whai wāhi te kura o Learning Tree International o Tokyo ki te whai wheako i ngā āhuatanga o te ahurea Māori mō ngā rangi e toru ki te taha o Te Wharekura o Te Kaokaoroa o Pātetere, ā, hei te Oketopa ka peka atu ngētehi tauira o Te Kaokaoroa o Pātetere ki Hapani, hei whakahoki i te karanga o te tāutuutu i waenganui i ngā kura e rua.
“Ko tēnei kaupapa, he kaupapa tāutuutu. Nā reira, ka tae mai rātou ki roto i a mātou i tēnei ata. Hei te Oketopa, toru tekau ma tahi o ō mātou tauira ka tae atu ki a rātou, ka nohotahi atu ki a rātou,” hei tā te Tumuaki Hāpai, a Aaron Koopu.
E ai ki a Koopu, he neke atu i te 31 ngā tauira ka haere ki Hapani ki te ako i te ahurea Hapani me ō rātou tikanga, ā, mā te kura anō e manaaki, e tiaki hoki i ngā tauira hapani me ōna māngai i a rātou e ako ana i ngā āhuatanga o te ahurea Māori me te ao Māori anō hoki.
“Ko te manako ia ka whai wheako rātou ki roto i ngā āhuatanga Māori, tō tātou reo, tō tātou ahurea, ā tātou tikanga me ngā hītoria o tēnei takiwā o tēnei whaitua o Tainui Waka,” hei tā Koopu anō.
Ko te tāutuutu i waenganui i ngā kura e rua te mea nui, ā, ko te whakapūmau i te hononga i waenganui i ngā kura e rua tētehi o ngā whāinga hei whakatutuki.
“E mihi nui ana ki tēnei kura e tae mai ana ki waenganui i a mātou. E hīkaka ana te manawa, e hīkaka ana te wairua ki tēnei nohoanga tahitanga kei waenganui i a mātou,” hei tā Koopu anō.