Te Puna Wairua | Rumaki Reo

Photo Credit : Saint Andrew Photography

About Us

Te Puna Wairua is a full-immersion te reo Māori unit in the heart of Tāmaki. Our akomanga works in partnership with Tāmaki Primary to provide a quality Māori-medium education for tauira and whānau. We recognise the unique needs of urban whānau in large city centres to learn and retain their reo and tikanga in a continually changing landscape.

Te Puna Wairua is a 80-100% rūmaki classroom, which means te reo Māori is the only language used everyday. Tikanga and matauranga Māori are woven into every school day, as well as our usual literacy and numeracy curriculum. 

Our goal is to ensure your child leaves our kura with their reo, literacy and numeracy levels required to continue into Māori medium education after their time here at Te Puna Wairua.

Our Akomanga

We have three akomanga in Te Puna Wairua:  Pīpī paopao (5-7years), Pīpī heihei (8-10years) and Pīpī Manuao (11-12years). While we follow these general groupings, children move according to their learning level, not their year level. This means if your child excels in one subject beyond their year level, we will teach them at a higher level beyond their year, however if they need more support in another level, we will not move them on until they are ready. Our holistic approach to teaching is wrapped around by the tuakana teina model which we integrate into our ways of being daily with our tamariki. 

We follow Te Marautanga o Aotearoa as our curriculum

Te Puna Wairua Mātāpono – Our Values

Te Reo Māori	Te reo Māori is the heartbeat of Te Puna Wairua. We are committed to creating a space where tamariki hear, speak, think and live through te reo Māori every day
Tikanga and Kawa	Whānau are expected to respect and uphold the tikanga and kawa of Te Puna Wairua while participating in kaupapa and events.
Manaakitanga	At Te Puna Wairua, we believe every child carries their own mauri, mana, whakapapa and wairua. Our akomanga is built upon aroha, respect and collective care for one another.
Whanaungatanga	Te Puna Wairua thrives through strong relationships between kura, tamariki and whānau. Whānau involvement is an essential part of our kaupapa and supports the success of all tamariki.
Tuakana-Teina	Our learning environment is grounded in the principle of tuakana-teina. Tamariki have a key role  supporting one another across ages, strengths and experiences. Our tuakana learn to be examples of our values to their teina, and our teina learn by the example set by their tuakana.
Hauora	The wellbeing of our tamariki is central to all that we do. We recognise the importance of taha wairua, taha hinengaro, taha tinana and taha whānau.

How to join our Te Puna Wairua kaupapa

We welcome all ages and levels of reo to complete an Expressions of Interest form for Te Puna Wairua. We understand all whānau are at varying levels of their reo journey, however if you think our kaupapa may be for you we encourage you to send through your Expression of Interest. This does not yet guarantee you a place in our akomanga.

Te Puna Wairua: Expression of Interest form

Once we have received your completed form, we will contact you within 5-7 working days to discuss next steps.

Our enrolment process

Our enrolment process is designed to support both whānau and kura so that each of our tamariki get the best out of their time here in Te Puna Wairua.

We recommend completing an Expression of Interest form with our kura at least a month before your intended start date.

Te Puna Wairua: Expression of Interest form

We have three stages before tamariki join our kaupapa:

1. Send through your EOI form
2. Kapu tī and kōrero – come in as a whānau for an informal meet and greet with one of our kaiako and one of our whānau
3. Classroom visit – whānau are invited to come along to our akomanga to see our kaupapa in action and meet some of our tamariki

All whānau are welcome to submit an Expression of Interest if you think Te Puna Wairua may be the right fit for you. Some of the things we take into consideration include:

• As we are 80-100% rūmaki kaupapa, we will need to assess your child’s level of reo. Some things we consider include whether your child is coming from a reo Māori immersion space, or has a te reo Māori speaker in their home
• If whānau do not yet have any reo Māori, whānau will need to show commitment to te reo Māori including a whānau language plan
• Whānau must agree to uphold the values of Te Puna Wairua, including upholding te reo Māori as the main language
• If your child has any additional learning needs, and if they are currently supported and resourced or awaiting assessment, please let us know
• Whānau must be represented for two whānau hui a term, one in person and one online. Whānau are expected to make 80% across the whole year. You are welcome to share this responsibility across your whānau if you are not able to make every hui.
• We also ask each whānau support our whānau ohu (volunteer groups): Te reo Māori, Hauora, Hāpori or Hāpai Ō

If you have any further questions please email Te Puna Wairua Pou Matua, Whaea Lee-Ann – ltutengaehe@tamakiprimary.school.nz