On Saturday 21 March, a hui was held at Takutai o Te Tītī Marae to discuss developing an Implementation/ Action Plan for our Te Reo Māori Strategy.

It was agreed that in order to achieve strategic goals one and two of our Te Reo Māori Strategy more information is required. The information required will be collected via an online survey to be circulated out to all rūnaka members for feedback.

Survey questions will include among others:

  • Who amongst our rūnaka/whānau members is interested in learning te reo Māori?
  • What level of learning and understanding do our whānau currently have: beginners, intermediate, advanced?
  • When is the best time for our whānau to learn; at night after school/work, weekends, school holidays; or a combination of all?
  • What type of course or training would best suit our whānau needs; bilingual or total immersion; at home amongst the whānau; or at the marae; or a combination of all?
  • Where do our whānau live; how many of our whānau live within our rūnaka takiwā, how many of our whānau live outside the takiwā and are interested in learning te reo Māori. How can we provide for those whānau that live outside our takiwā?
  • For our rakatahi and tamariki, what te reo Māori courses/classes are currently available within their schools?

For those rūnaka members and whānau who do not have computers, we will ensure that copies are mailed out.

The survey will be launched around the time of the rising of ‘Puaka’ scheduled for early June. Whānau will have two weeks to complete and return so that we can analyse the responses.

The feedback will put us in a much stronger position to identify how the strategic goals one and two can best be achieved in revitalising te reo Māori as well as promoting the Kāi Tahu dialect across the takiwā of Ōraka Aparima Rūnaka, including within our homes, on our marae and within our communities.