Christchurch Education Centre | Ōtautahi takiwā ako

While throughout the region there is architecture and development that speaks to colonisation, many years prior to this Māori had settled and become well established across the region. The Māori in Te Waipounamu who developed in unison with this southern environment were from three principal streams of descent which eventually merged together in histories to form the people we now refer to as Kāi Tahu.

Through these processes the three main tribes of Te Waipounamu became one and over time came to be known as Kāi Tahu Whānui. ‘In this way, the histories and traditions of the older tribes have been woven into the collective Kāi Tahu identity’. These southerners were thus expert travellers and seamen, in tune with every aspect of their diverse environment. A distinctive economy and culture developed in the south around these seasonal heke or migrations, as opposed to the comparatively permanent settlements in the north.

The first of these people were the Waitaha whom our traditions state arrived here on the waka Uruao under the leadership of Rākaihautū and proceeded to explore, name and shape the land. It was them who laid the foundations of our tribally unique mythology, thus establishing whakapapa and ahikāroa in Te Waipounamu. The second wave of migration, around the mid-sixteenth century, was that of the Kāti Māmoe. They were the descendants of Whatuamāmoe and were drawn from the eastern coast of the North Island by the plentiful resources of Te Waipounamu. Through a process of war, strategic intermarriage and peace-making, the Kāti Māmoe came to dominate the Waitaha, supplanting their pre-eminence in Te Waipounamu. The third wave of migration in the seventeenth century was by an amalgamation of groups who later united under their common descent from Tahupōtiki and came to be known as Kāi Tahu. They also had emerged from the cradle of the eastern North Island and ventured into Te Waipounamu, engaging in the same process of war and intermarriage with Kāti Māmoe as Māmoe had previously done with Waitaha.

These excerpts are taken from Hana O’Regan’s book – Ko Tahu, Ko au: Kāi Tahu Tribal Identity (2001, pp. 45-46)

Our team is available to assist tauira with applications, enrolment, studies and everything in between throughout their student journey. Attend scheduled drop-in sessions and let us know how we can help.

Tauira are welcome to attend:

• Face-to-face study sessions each semester
  • Christchurch every Thursday from 2pm to 8pm at 106 Wrights Road
  • Kaiapoi fortnightly on Thursdays from 3pm to 7pm at the Kaiapoi Library (upstairs)
  • Ashburton and Timaru 2 to 3 times a semester
  • Hokitika 2 times per semester

Those students; tauira who identify as requiring additional learning support work with the Regional Education Leader to develop an individual education plan to establish the provision of a tailored support programme.

• Online zoom hui individual Zoom hui in response to tauira requests. This is especially useful for those tauira who are not able to access the regular face-to-face opportunities.

• Professional learning development events designed for students and the wider education community.
  Throughout the year we run professional development workshops covering a variety of topics. Recent ones have included Infants and Toddlers: Growing potential, The Rise of Matariki, and Transition to School. Upcoming workshops are advertised on our website, in the Pānui sent monthly to members and on our facebook page.

• Orientation days
  Each new group of tauira|students attends the takiwā ako for face-to-face orientation at the beginning of their first semester with us. This orientation runs on the Monday and Tuesday of the first week of semester. Prior to this we invite the tauira|students and their family and friends to the official welcome into the organisation known as a mihi whakatau. So that those supporting the new tauira|students can attend we have this on the Sunday afternoon prior to the orientation days. It is a great time for tauira to meet each other and for family and friends to engage with the organisation that their loved on is becoming involved in.

• Block Courses
  Graduate Diploma of Teaching (ECE) – This course has a block course of three days at the beginning of each semester. From 2025 we will be running the block course for these tauira|students at our takiwā ako in Christchurch. This is significant for tauira from across the South Island who previously had to travel to Wellington or Auckland for these courses.

• Regional Education Center Social Events
  At special times over the year, we invite our members, liaison teachers and associate teachers to join us for social and networking opportunities. These events provide opportunities to not only meet each other in a relaxed setting but for us to thank those who provide ongoing support for Te Rito Maioha ECNZ as an organisation and for the care, mentoring and support they provide to our students; tauira

We have an open-door policy, students; tauira are welcome and encouraged to come in during business hours and use our space to study or to connect with the lecturers; kaiako.

Need more information? Give us a ring, our team will be more than happy to answer all your questions