An anchor to the whenua: Napier Girls’ High grounded in their learning

Perched on Mataruahou, Napier Girls’ High School has embarked on a cross-curricular journey to embed Mātauranga Māori across learning areas. By weaving place-based learning into the refreshed curriculum, kaiako aim to strengthen ākonga identity, environmental awareness and collaboration across subjects.

Napier Girls’ High School | Te Kura Kōhine o Ahuriri, perched proudly on Mataruahou | Bluff Hill in Napier, has been instrumental in shaping the lives of young women since 1884.

At the end of 2024, a small group of teachers at the school began brainstorming ideas around a cross-curricular Mātauranga Māori excursion within their local environment.

Extensive planning went into developing the programme but due to adverse weather conditions, the event had to be postponed.

However, with the programme fully prepared and ready to implement, it’s hoped that it can take place later in 2025 or early in 2026.

Weaving learning across the curriculum

Assistant head of science and head of Year 11 science Vanessa Fraser says the concept of a cross-curricular Mātauranga Māori excursion emerged during a hui with a Ministry of Education subject specialist about the curriculum refresh and the seven key curriculum components.

“As a group, we reflected on how these components could be meaningfully embedded into our existing programmes.

“A key insight came from student feedback, highlighting how important it was for them to feel connected to place

(mātaiahika) as it helped them feel grounded in their learning and valued within the school community,” says Vanessa.

Assistant head of English and specialist classroom teacher Andre Prichard says students also identified a need for mātaiaho (weaving learning across the curriculum), to better understand the links between different subjects and see their learning as interconnected rather than isolated.

“We also noticed that primary schools often have a more integrated approach to the curriculum, while secondary schools tend to work in silos. This prompted us to explore ways of fostering more cross-curricular connections at the secondary level,” says Andre.

Two staff members from the school had been on a haerenga organised by their community of learning and led by an expert on local Māori history and pūrākau, Tipene Cottrell. Tumuaki Dawn Ackroyd had also been on a haerenga led by Tipene and supported this approach.

“As mana whenua, he was especially keen to impress on us the importance of Te Whanganui-a-Orotū to the local hapū of Ahuriri. This made this area a natural focus for the learning we hoped to facilitate.”

This led the group of teachers to design a day where multiple subject areas could draw on the estuary’s history, environment and local partnerships to deepen learning.

Embedding Mātauranga Māori in learning

The school’s Year 11 rōpū were chosen as the participants in the day because of existing curriculum links, a focus on the place-based curriculum and the opportunities for curriculum redesign afforded by the new Level 1 standards.

Geography already ran an annual field trip and had established links to Mātauranga Māori. English had developed a hīkoi based on an important tipuna, Pania, taking in sites such as Tuhinapo, Karetoki Whare and the reef nearby to Mataruahou | Bluff Hill, where the school sits.

Science and other learning areas were also looking to embed more Mātauranga Māori in their programmes of learning.

Next steps in the planning process meant building on this by involving local community groups.

Ātea A Rangi Educational Trust, which runs the Waka Hourua programme, offered expertise in the historical journey of the Waka Hourua from Hawaiki, while Hawke’s Bay Regional Council helped with water testing of the estuary.

“We were therefore supported by a curriculum developed by local organisations, iwi and mana whenua,” says Vanessa.

In addition, the nearby Waka Ama club generously agreed to host sessions for students, covering the structure and history of waka in the local area, and culminating in a practical experience paddling the waka ama. Sites like the local Yacht Club also offered to host.

These ready-to-go programmes provided by the school’s community partners greatly reduced the workload for teachers and ensured authentic integration of Mātauranga Māori.

Thinking outside the box

Initially, the planning for the day seemed daunting, says Andre.

“It was a big undertaking, and one quite anathema to high school teachers used to working in silos.”

But when teachers realised the potential of the kaupapa, ideas started to flow.

Science was interested in the physics of the waka, commerce in the activities of mana whenua and the change in economic activity in the estuary over time.

Geography wanted to assess the environmental impacts of industry on the moana, while history hoped to engage tauira in understanding pre-European settlement.

English sought to create a set of tuhituhi (writing) derived from the day, including stories, poems, descriptions, blogs and reflections based on traditional Māori forms such as pūrākau and mōteatea.

Andre says kaiako were supported with some release time from senior management and by the allocation of a budget to cover the day.

“The finer, more precise details were planned and meetings held to get everybody on the same page, whether to learn tikanga for the day or to practise our waiata whakawhetai for our guest speakers, such as Tipene.”

Staff became excited about the opportunities for collaboration, learning outside the classroom and development of Mātauranga in their curriculum areas.

“We all liked having to think outside of the box in terms of the activities we would do, constrained as we were by what was available to us at the estuary,” he says.

Opportunities to learn outside of the classroom, to engage in diverse and different learning experiences (each student participated in at least four rotations), and to work with their friends created a real sense of enthusiasm and excitement among ākonga.

“All students were able to gain a new appreciation of their immediate environment, one that could be shared with friends and whānau, spreading the kaupapa more widely,” explains Andre.

“For ākonga Māori, the day provided an opportunity to celebrate te ao Māori and for those from local iwi Ngāti Kahungunu especially, it reinforced the anchor to their whenua.”