Te Tapuae o Rēhua is pleased to feedback the success of Te Ara Raukura, a partnership between Ngāi Tūāhuriri, Te Tapuae o Rehua and seven secondary schools in eastern Christchurch.

Raniera Dallas, Community and Whānau Champion, Te Tapuae o Rehua, says this programme is an evolution of traditional rangatahi training.

“The programme reaffirms our values and ensures we create pathways for young Māori to develop into leaders. The programme aims to create a pathway similar to those used by our ancestors,” says Raniera.The programme is a leadership initiative for Year 9 and 10 rangatahi in eastern Christchurch aiming to connect tauira and whānau to culture, language and identity. The tauira are accountable to each other and have the opportunity to meet later in the year to share their progress with peers, identify changes they have made, help each other to develop and create new goals. One of the recent students in the programme said “we learnt that It doesn’t matter where you started off, you can do whatever you want” and that “even if you started from the bottom you can make it to the top”. “The programme is in its first year of development and we hope to secure further funding next year to allow us to expand the programme to the wider community,” says Raniera.

The aim of the programme is not to ‘make’ or ‘identify’ young Māori leaders. Rather, it seeks to build capability and grow sustainability within the kura to ensure young Māori see themselves as leaders of the future.If you would like more information on this programme please email: [email protected]

Te Ara Raukura rōpū at Koukourārata.

Te Ara Raukura rōpū at Koukourārata.

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