Our naming story.
As part of the Christchurch Schools Rebuild project we have valuable support from Ngai Tahu in the form of Mātauraka Mahaanui. This group has been tasked with supporting schools in understanding the history of their school sight to innovate the inclusion of Māori and Ngāi Tahu content in the spaces, curricula, hearts and minds of education providers in Greater Christchurch and to assist in raising their bilingual capacity and the achievement of all students through developing their cultural understanding.
Mātauraka Mahaanui have worked on delivering a unique naming story for Paparoa Street School and we have worked with the children as part of our learning theme this year to have them deeply research the names we have been gifted. With that knowledge the children have allocated the gifted names to learning spaces within each kāinga. We also have gifted names for our community and playground spaces. What better time to share this with you than as Te Wiki o te reo Maori 2021 comes to a close. As our rebuilt school emerges these will be the names we will become familiar with and the story around these names will be a special taonga for the future and of the past.
Pūtake (Rationale)
The following have been considered:
● The school’s “Education Brief,” submitted 2019 to inform the build project
● School vision and values
● Cultural narrative for the region:
● School landscape and the land surrounding the school, both historically and now,
● Associated flora and fauna
Consideration has been made for the kaitiakitanga relationship students have begun with their adjacent reserve through a CCC supported initiative, that has enabled students to have some genuine ownership of the learning about their environment, and responsibility for the healthy repatriation of the reserve through pathways, plantings, and naming.
Paparoa Street School Naming Suggestions
Paparoa Street School is located in a Wet plains ecosystem, near to an old plains system, consisting of some high ground, and some wetlands. The Lucas Associates ecosystem map indicates the school is on the edge of a former wetland area. The rivers, streams, and wetland areas were all significant mahinga kai areas for Ngāi Tūāhuriri, and seasonal food gathering occurred in and around these locations.
Plants, fish and birds were all harvested and preserved for later use. Most of the former wetland areas were drained for settler farming and occupation.
Nearby, Papanui Bush was an area covered by a large stand of forest, dominated by tōtara, mātai, kahikatea and kānuka trees. This native bush provided much of the timber for the initial buildings in Christchurch city. This school naming narrative links the wetland areas, waterways, the land and the sky above through naming of spaces around the school and within the three learning kāinga - villages - in Paparoa Street School.
Names for all spaces
Our school naming narrative links the wetlands, waterways, land and sky through naming of spaces around the school and within the kāinga.
● Community Spaces
● Playground Spaces
● Rangi Kāinga
● Whenua Kāinga
● Awa Kāinga
The names of our community spaces
The names of our playground spaces
What we particularly love about the kāinga naming is the children have taken complete responsibility for researching about our gifted names and allocating these to appropriate spaces within each kāinga ……..
But that is another whole story.
Do you have questions?
Email
office@paparoastreet.school.nz
Phone
+64 3 352 8160
Location
120 Paparoa Street
Christchurch, 8053, New Zealand