Hoe Ngātahi Newsletter - December 2023: Supporting Māori learner success

Pūrea te hau o te raki karanga mai.
Pūrea te hau o te uru karanga mai.
Pūrea te hau o te rāwhiti karanga mai.
Pūrea te hau o te tonga karanga mai.

Kei ngā maunga whakahī, kei ngā kōawaawa, ngā mōana, kei ngā huinga waka e tau nei. E mihi kau ana ki ā tātou katoa.

Kei ngā tini mate ngā tini aitua kua riro atu ki te pō, haere, haere, haere, moe mai rā ki ngā moe ihoranga o ngā Mātua Tūpuna, e moe, e moe, e okioki ai.

Ka hoki mai ki ā tātou katoa ngā kānohi ora.

Ahakoa he tau pikinga me ngā hekekenga, kua tūtuki pai e ō wawata kia tau ai koe ki tēnei o to tātou waka Mātauranga nōreira mihi atu, mihi mai.

Ka tuku atu ngā mihi aroha, ngā mihi akiaki ki ā koutou ki te pūpuru e ngā pūkenga kua mauhia i tēnei tau. Me tukuna atu ō mōhioranga ki ngā tini tāngata, koutou e manaakitia.

Hoināno kua tae te wā harihari, me te koakoa ka tukuna atu e mātou Te Rōpū Taupuhipuhi Āmio ā mātou aroha, mō tēnei kirihimete me te tau hou e tatū ana ki runga i ā tātou katoa kia kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui.

The refreshening wind to the north I call to you.
The refreshening wind to the west I call to you.
The refreshening wind to the east I call to you.
The refreshening wind to the south I call to you.

To all the prestigious mountains, the rivers and lakes, and to all our waka I acknowledge you all.

To our many loved ones who have passed on, I bid you farewell three times, return to where our ancestors are resting. Farewell, farewell rest in peace.

I now return us the living.

Although this year has seen its ups and downs you have remained focused on the tasks at hand, so for that I acknowledge you.

I now acknowledge all your skills that you have upheld over this year, grasp a hold of what you have learnt, share and use it within your work and practice for the betterment of all the people you provide support to.

With that, Te Rōpū Tāupuhipuhi Āmio wishes you all a very Happy Christmas and a very Happy New Year.

Be strong, be courageous and most of all be humble.

Hineoma - Kaihautu:

I want to take this time to celebrate the many achievements that you, our ākonga, have achieved this year and to acknowledge those that are still on their journey and the continued commitment to completing your studies.

As always, it has been a privilege to walk alongside you and to share and partake of your knowledge and practical experiences in your workplace, share laughs, nourish your brain and whanaungatanga during noho marae.

May you have a safe and Merry Christmas.

“When times are hard as they sometimes will be, remember to look back and see how far you have come rather than worry about how far there is to go.”

Rachael - Kaitaunaki:

Ko te tūmanako āhau koutou ki te ora pai i te wā nei.

Starting my journey 11 months ago was an anxious time to better understand how I may serve your journey of learning. However, your openness to receiving support and sharing your professional and personal lives has transcended my role as a Kaitaunaki.

Have a joyful time with your whānau during the Christmas season.

I leave the following whakatauki, that expresses how we can DO THIS together!

“Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te Iwi”

With your food basket and my food basket we will thrive.

Taipari - Kaitaunaki:

From the top of the North Island to the bottom of the South Island, the ākonga I have worked alongside, it gives me great joy and a sense of understanding how important it is to work alongside our Māori people, within the different sectors and workplaces. I am grateful for the opportunity to have been able to work alongside each and every one of you.

Throughout the year I have been so lucky to witness our beautiful landscape we call home, Aotearoa, and am fortunate to live in such a wonderful and diverse country. Sometimes taking a quick break to take in the beautiful scenery and breathe in the fresh air.

I will just leave you with this whakatauākī for you to decipher:
“murua ngā hara i te au moana, kei whitawhita haere te tīreiraka ki uta”.

Atarua - Kaitaunaki:

Tēnā rā koutou katoa.
Ko wai au?
He uri au nō Hokianga Whakapau Karakia ki te
taha o tōku Pāpā.
I te taha o tōku Māmā nō Tainui, nō Ngāti Koata hoki
Ko Atarua Marsters tōku ingoa.

I am the newest addition to Te Rōpū Taupuhipuhi Āmio. I am committed to this kaupapa of providing support to our ākonga Māori that is unique and meaningful.

I look forward to engaging and walking alongside many of you through your learning journey. In the meantime, take this time to pause, reconnect with yourself, loved ones and breathe.

Edna - Kairuruku:

The best part of my year has been those of you I’ve had the privilege to work with, whether in person, via email or phone. You and what you want to achieve is important and it has been exciting to see familiar names on completion reports. It is inspirational knowing the effort and commitment that goes into balancing whānau, work, study, a range of other commitments, and life.

Although I know many of you will continue working over the holiday season, I trust you will also make time to relax, reflect, refresh relationships and regenerate for 2024.

As we have met with groups over the past year, we have heard how you want to meet up more regularly with others and wished there was a study group.

We realise that with work-based learning there aren’t classes to attend and of course everyone is working, often full-time. So, knowing who else is studying is difficult.

Being in the health industry you’ll be aware of the Privacy Act, which we are also bound by.
But we thought we could offer a place where you can share contact information with us and give us permission to share it with another person who is also willing to share their information. This is so you can contact each other and potentially set up a study group.

We would not be able to facilitate or moderate any communications or meetings, so you will need to take responsibility for your safety and wellbeing.

If you would like to try this, follow this link to complete the form.

We will gather responses, then collate the information and by the end of February will contact anyone who responded. This contact will either be to share contact information or to let you know that no one else responded to match your area or qualification, depending on your choice when you complete the form.

Before we sign-off for the year, we wanted to let you know that Careerforce offices will be closed over the holidays and staff are taking a break. Our offices close at midday on Friday 22 December, and will re-open on Monday 8 January 2024.

Some of you will still receive invitations for our February events; feel free to register and if you have any queries, we will answer these as soon as possible from Monday 8 January 2024.

Although Careerforce offices are closed at these times, you can still work on your assessments over the holidays and submit them for marking. Bear in mind that there will be delays in marking assessments by Careerforce staff over this time. Aka Toi will still be available during the holidays but the Careerforce support/help won’t be available, as the Aka Toi team will be taking a break.