Te Ira Tangata

1. The whānau practises an holistic approach to children’s development based on Māori cultural and spiritual values and beliefs. The whānau: has clearly-stated goals that reflect these priorities; implements programmes that reflect this approach; provides a cooperative learning environment that nurtures and protects; encourages children to pursue healthy habits and attitudes.

2. The whānau honours all people and respects the uniqueness of the individual. The whānau: models the values of love, tolerance, and care for others; organises learning experiences that encourage the values of love, tolerance, and care; has systems to identify and discourage physical or psychological harm against oneself and others.

Te Reo

1. The whānau ensures the language of the kura will be, for the most part, exclusively Māori. The whānau: develops strategies that effect a total commitment to the everyday usage of Te Reo Māori; accommodates those who are still in the learning phase.

2. The whānau achieves full competency in Māori and English. The whānau: develops, implements, and evaluates programmes to support full competency in Māori and English; develops programmes for language usage and competency in all teaching and learning experiences; teaches Māori and English as discrete and separate.

3. The whānau respects all languages. The whānau: is able to demonstrate how this respect is shown.

Ngā Iwi

1. The whānau nurtures children to be secure in the knowledge of themselves and their own people. The whānau: provides programmes which emphasise the child’s being through genealogy and iwi knowledge; provides programmes whereby the historical, cultural, political, social, religious, and economic issues and events which are part of Māori heritage are studied.

2. The whānau ensures that children acknowledge and learn about others and their societies. The whānau: develops, implements and evaluates programmes that meet this requirement.

3. The whānau ensures all members play an integral part in children’s learning and in the learning of the wider whānau. The whānau: emphasises that through association with the whānau appropriate and acceptable behaviour will be modelled and reinforced; emphasises the whānau responsibility for establishing and reinforcing a caring, supportive environment; affirms that the kura is available for the learning activities of all the whānau members.

4. The whānau affirms collective ownership and responsibility for the kura. The whānau: values the participation of all members in various administration and ancillary roles. ensures that a strong link between individual families and the operation of the kura and its programmes is maintained.

Te Ao

1. The whānau ensures that children will be secure in their knowledge about the Māori world and enable them to participate in the wider world. The whānau: develops, implements, and evaluates programmes that reflects this approach.

2. The whānau ensures that children will explore the physical and natural world while maintaining their link to ancestral knowledge. The whānau: develops, implements, and evaluates programmes that reflects this approach; develops in children an understanding of practices that are environmentally friendly; offers programmes which develops in children a knowledge of their role as kaitiaki.

Āhuatanga Ako

1. The whānau operates a warm, loving and intellectually stimulating learning environment. The whānau: ensures the learning of knowledge, skills and attitudes to include the use of body, mind, spirit and all the senses; implements the regular practices of karakia, waiata, wananga and involves whānau, kuia, koroua and pukenga to reinforce its philosophies, values and curriculum content; provides for the special interests and abilities of individual children; encourages shared and co-operative ways of learning; welcomes innovative ways of stimulating children’s learning and encouraging self-motivation; provides opportunities for development of self-directed learning.

2. The whānau ensures that the importance of the learning environment will be emphasised. The whānau: honours kaumatua as repositories of Māori knowledge and invites their participation as advisers and fellow teachers; expands the learning environment to include marae, the local and wider natural environment, libraries, museums, and other places that contribute to learning; values the presence of supportive adults as important participants in the teaching and learning process; accepts that all members of the whānau have a joint responsibility for teaching and learning and that older children care for and guide younger ones in learning activities; exposes children to the protocols of hospitality in the home, school, and marae.

3. The whānau includes strong education leadership and capable teachers. The whānau: appoints suitably qualified personnel; manages their performance effectively; provides personnel with constructive feedback that will enable them to participate at the highest level of performance.

Ngā Tino Uaratanga

1. The whānau ensures that each child’s abilities are successfully nurtured including their academic skills, bilingualism, natural talents, creativity, enthusiasm for learning and life, ability to retain knowledge, leadership qualities, independence, joy, spirituality balanced with physical pursuits, their links to ancestral domains and their pride of place within their iwi. The whānau achieves this by: identifying and using opportunities for children, teachers and parents to be involved in the setting of goals and assessing children’s progress against them; the development of appropriate measures for assessing and analysing the achievement of children; the linking of the planning, assessment and evaluation programme to Te Aho Matua; operating a system of self review and evaluation; having long-term aspirations for the children who graduate from the kura.