Newspaper article.

Tautoro School Sign Says It All…

It was standing there, above all of us, in Te Ao Po, waiting to be unveiled into the world of Te Ao Marama.

As we stood there in anticipation we all wondered what our new sign would look like. Matua Mitai asked us this question “Mo wai tenei tohu nei?” and we responded by saying “Mo te iwi tenei tohu .”

It was all very exciting even more so when one of our students was given the privilege to unveil our new tohu. The student was Kohuroa Matene something that she would always remember, a very special moment.

As the whariki fell from the tohu, some people were almost crying some were smiling and some stood there with pride and joy.

The carver of the moment was Matua Eric Wihongi and he explained to us what the carving meant. “ It represented the waka values of our school.”

On the carving you would see the twelve hoe. These twelve hoe were inspired by our parents and community and wholeheartedly supported by us the tamariki, the teachers, the tumuaki and staff here at Tautoro School.  

We, the tamariki were overwhelmed by our new tohu and the response that it was given. We sincerely thank Matua Eric for taking his time to acknowledge and support the kaupapa and tikanga of our school and especially for our beautiful new tohu. It is something that can be seen and viewed by all and it is a treasure in which we can all  be proud of. Our aroha to our kaumatua and kuia for their aroha and tautoko, no reira tena koutou katoa.

To me this tohu is very special for our school and all of the students that attend this school and the future students who will pass through this school. You can tell just by  looking at the school sign that our school values are our school waka hoe to us and our whanau.