Stories

27th November 2024

As a Kāhui who has adopted TTRS this year we were fortunate to have Bruno Reddy the creator present to teachers from Te Kāhui Ako Kātote. His passion for education and knowledge about mathematics was impressive. 

"I was impressed by the depth of the programme, from the different options within the app, the heatmaps, and the paper workbooks, I wish I had this for my kids" Daniel Gorman

This morning, a group of dedicated Kātote young leaders came together to sort presents and wrap Christmas boxes for local families in need. Their efforts are part of Te Kāhui Ako Kātote’s partnership with The North Canterbury Christmas Project, an initiative aimed at bringing joy and support to the community this festive season.

Through teamwork and generosity, these young leaders are making a meaningful difference, ensuring that families in North Canterbury experience the magic of Christmas. 

On Tuesday 12th November we were fortunate to have Melanie talk to us about her mahi on Māori ākonga achieving success as Māori.  She spoke about her book ‘Niho Taniwha’ and the model she uses to implement her strategy to support student success. The use of whai, ako, mau and tipu within the niho taniwha structure help to embed these principles.  Each of the chapters includes a short kōrero that helps us engage with the kaupapa. The use of checklists enables educators to look at our own practice and identify how we can improve to become better practitioners for our ākonga Māori.

It was great to see many of her pukapuka being sold and looking in to the future we hope to see her Niho Taniwha model become embedded in our kura.

You can find her book available here:

Niho Taniwha workshop is available next in Ōtautahi on 13th February 2025 click on the link to enrol

On Thursday 31st October, Jonathan delivered his winning speech to our young leaders. What an inspiration he is to our ākonga!  He spoke with immense pride of his connection to his Samoan heritage and of bringing the youth of Aotearoa together regardless of their background. Having delivered his speech to a number of audiences now, Jonathan was able to refine it to suit the young audience in front of him.

A huge mihi to Jonathan for giving up his precious time as his final year at kura comes to a close.

It was great to see such beautiful installations at the Kaiapoi Lights festival.

Congratulations to the students who performed at the Kaiapoi Lights and Matariki demonstrations.

"I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to you all for coming onboard with the Kaiapoi Matariki celebration and the time and effort from both yourselves and the tamariki at your kura creating the beautiful whetū installations. These were such a special feature at Kaiapoi Lights  - We also are very appreciative of the Kapa Haka groups that braved the cold to perform at both Kaiapoi Lights and Matariki. " Sarah Broughton - Event Manager

During Terms 1 & 2 the KHS Peer Support leaders have been out to all of the Kātote kura to run adventure games with the Year 8's

A fantastic initiative "the kids loved it so much"

It was great to catch up with so many kaiako and tumuaki at the first Kāhui Ako event of the year - February 27th. 

A huge congratulations to the "Kahoot Champions", displaying the best knowledge of kahui trivia.