Te Ahi Kā

Friday, 13th October 2023 at 8:15am

Applications are now open for Te Ahi Kā 2024!

Application forms are available at Student Reception (all entries must be handed in by Friday 20 October).

Green Bay High School's Te Ahi Kā form class is open to Māori and non-Māori students wanting to grow their knowledge and understanding of te ao Māori.

Senior students successful in applying will join from the beginning of next year. Junior students successful in applying will join in Term 4, Week 4 2023.

Te Ahi Kā is a vertical form class, from Years 10-13. As well as providing students with the same support and connection as other form classes, Te Ahi Kā will focus on developing knowledge and understanding of te ao Māori. Members of Te Ahi Kā will be encouraged to join kapa haka and attend whānau hui and other events (eg Matariki).

Te Ahi Kā provides:

• Daily practice of tikanga Māori in all form time sessions
• Te ao Māori promoted in all aspects of form time
• Academic coaching of students
• Teachings of waiata, karakia and haka during form time
• Tuakana-teina relationships within the classroom to support academic and social development.

He aha tēnei mea Te Ahi Kā? Ahi kā is a reference to the fire that one must keep burning on their whenua, as a symbol or sign of their occupation of that whenua. Ahi kā is a metaphor too for the home people of the pā, who keep the home fires burning. The word 'kā' means to burn, kāinga which means home, derives from the kupu 'kā' - so another rendering of kāinga means 'where the fire burns' - where the ahi kā burns.

Nō reira, the ahi kā of the pā keep the ahi burning so when you come home, you feel the warmth of the ahi, the warmth of our whare.

For more information, please email: Deputy Principal, Drew McWhinnie