A lifetime of learning
Iam a direct descendant of the great peace-maker and rangatira Eru Maihi Patuone. I was periodically brought up in Whangaruru, by my grandmother Kapiri Hoskins, nee Strongman. She was a very strong Ma¯ ori kuia who was brought up by her grandparents, Tawaka and Eru Nehua. She knew her whakapapa well. I learnt to live off the land from her. My father was a secondary school principal and then director of Ma¯ ori and Island education. My mother was a preschool adviser. Between them, I was absorbed in educational theory all my life.
I’ve been the principal of O¯ tu¯ ru School for nearly 20 years, and have been in the education system for 40 years, but I wasn’t even going to be a teacher. I milked cows, then I was a commercial fisherman, and then I was a beekeeper. I had 50 hives but only got $2 a kilogram for my manuka honey. Then I started teaching and let the hives go.
Now manuka honey is about $200 a kilogram!
I believe in making learning meaningful so the kids know there is a purpose. Giving the learning some context from real life, building curiosity from experience. I’ve carried that philosophy throughout all my years teaching. The skills I gained living off the land as a child have been brought to school. “Learning to¯live and living to learn” was established at Otu¯ ru 20 years ago.
Getting a brand new school in the community of O¯ tu¯ ru has been a proud moment for me. I’ve been lucky enough to
work alongside our chairman, Pat Heta, since I first came here. Throughout all of our challenges we’ve stuck to our guns and together alongside our O¯ tu¯ ru staff and community. We now have a brand new school for our tamariki.
Before I left school I wanted to be a writer, but I never did it. My mother did, and she became an award-winning children’s author, Miriam Smith. Then my sister, Briar Grace Smith, decided she was going to write. She is now a famous New Zealand Ma¯ ori playwright, and is in demand for her plays and movies.
My first book, Awatea’s Treasure, received a Storylines Notable Book Award and was a finalist in the New Zealand Book Awards. Awatea’s Treasure has gone into a second print run, and my publishers have a sequel, Awatea and the Kawa Gang’ ready to come out later this year.
Kaitaia is a large recreational playground for me. It’s my home, it’s where I live and work, it’s helped me grow and shaped me. I have many bonds with many people in Kaitaia through my work and music. I really love my job, kids, writing stories, going sailing, fishing and creating music. I love singing, playing and composing songs. There’s so much I want to do, but there’s only so much time.
My grandmother used to say, “Be the captain of your own ship.” You steer your own waka through life.
As the whakatauki at Otu¯ ¯ ru School has said for 100 years, ‘Me mahi tahi ta¯ tou, kia kaha e te iwi.’