‘Endless’ opportunities at impressive new Manukura
After 20 years of operating in temporary buildings, Palmerston North special character school Manukura finally has a place it can call its own as it strives for success in Māori education.
Manukura has been operating in unused buildings at the old teachers’ college in Hokowhitu since its inception in 2005. Those buildings are marked for demolition.
In 2018 the Government announced $20 million of funding to build a permanent home for Manukura on the Massey University campus. Construction is now complete and an impressive purpose-built facility opened with a dawn ceremony yesterday.
The new site, which was previously a paddock, has classrooms, a gym, a performance centre, outdoor courts and fields.
Tumuaki (principal) Ilane Durie was excited that the new site had finally opened.
“It’s been a long time coming and it’s wonderful to see all of our community here, our iwi, our whānau and all those that have supported the kaupapa over the past 18 years.
“So the opportunities that are available to our rangatahi (young people) because of this facility are endless really.”
Pointing out one major advantage of the new school, Durie said the Hokowhitu site had no sports fields or gym, so previously students had to be driven around town for training sessions.
“We’ve been transporting our students across town for years and years. We’ve had no fields, we’ve had no courts of our own.
“So to be able to train on site, to be able to invite others on site as well, to be able to host sports teams, to be able to host tournaments or even to be able to host kaupapa, that’s what this facility is for.”
She said it was a special day for the school, its kaupapa (topic or theme) and the Māori community.
The new building has specialist classrooms, including classes for robotics, science and art, and the performance centre can host 300 people.
One of the people who helped found the school, Sir Mason Durie, said now the new building had opened it was hard to predict what the next 20 years would look like, but it would be grounded in the notion Māori could achieve at the highest level.
“Twenty years ago, it was difficult to imagine where we are today. But over that time we’ve learnt a great deal about education and learnt a great deal about Māori education in particular.
“It has come from the 20 years Tu Toa (what the school was previously known as) and Manukura have been in existence. Manukura is distinct in a number of ways.
“First of all it aspires for excellence in everything it does. Excellence in academics, excellence in sport, excellence in te ao Māori.
“In all of those things the overall message is we will do the best we can and we will achieve.
“That's been a kaupapa that has stayed with Manukura all the years, where young people will achieve and aspire and get to the highest point they can.”
He said, previously, achieving School Certificate was seen as enough.
Previous principal and one of the founders, Nathan Durie, spoke about the early days of the school when they started with 12 students and had to get by with little money.
He said whānau had been desperate for something new for their children and were supportive of the kaupapa.
Durie said he enlisted the support of influential people, including his uncle Mason, who had the wisdom to keep moving forward and not let barriers stop them.
Nathan Durie and wife Yvette McCausland-Durie left Manukura last year to reopen the historic Māori boys boarding school, St Stephen’s School, or Tīpene, at Bombay near Auckland.
The new Manukura was built on the edge of the university to show students what was possible if they wanted to go on to tertiary education.
Manukura will officially start at the new site on the first day of term two.
Its roll was capped at about 200 now and it would be 300 at the new site, although that was expected to grow gradually.