Te Ringakaha Tia-Ward

I am a primary trained teacher her in Whangarei, New Zealand, I completed my bachelors of education through The University of Auckland, majoring in Huarahi Māori. I have been teaching for 6 years here at Whangarei Intermediate. For 5 years I have educated students in a bilingual 50-80% Te Reo Māori instructional setting. The past year I have opened the first Rūmaki (Full immersion) here at Whangarei Intermediate. I have a passion for Māori education and believe that a Valued culture is a culture of excellence. I have presented at a world indigenous conference in Hawaii as well as the Trans-Tasman Principles Conference on the Localised Māori Curriculum I was a part of creating. I have lead my team of 5 teachers and 120 students over the past 2 years to realise the potential within our native language. I am relived that there is now a tool such as Flip to help our aspirations manifest.