Kia ora koutou
Ko Kaylene Macnee ahau
He tumuaki ahau ki te Kura o Discovery, ki Porirua
As a pākeha educator, I work hard to lead a kura where we are doing our best to help normalise te reo Māori. We have mihi o te ata every morning in every classroom in our kura - starting the day with a session that is only in te reo Māori. This varies from class to class in terms of how long it is. In some classes, it's 5 minutes and in others, up to 20 minutes. I feel blessed to live in a country where te reo and tikanga Māori are such a strong part of our history and I feel honored to be doing my bit to try to normalise te reo in our kura. My hope for the future after another 50 years is that te reo Māori is heard everywhere, everyday, in the community, and that all New Zealanders are proud to use te reo. I hope that we everyone can confidently mihi to others and mihi to mana whenua.
Ko tōu reo, ko tōku reo, te tuakiri tangata. Tīhei uriuri, tīhei nakonako.