Reading Together® at Ngāti Moko Marae

Fairhaven School in Te Puke has been implementing the Reading Together® programme at Ngāti Moko Marae since 2014. Commenting on their latest implementation, Vicki Hiini (DP at Fairhaven School and Reading Together® Workshop Leader) wrote:

These workshops have been truly fantastic. ... we have presented these workshops bilingually. We have given whānau mini-libraries to take home with books in English and Te Reo Māori. We have also modeled most parts of the workshops in Te Reo as well as English, including reading with a child, and reading from a dictionary.

The small amount of funding that is required to make these workshops happen is minimal in comparison to the social value that they provide. The feedback that we have had from whānau has been heartwarming, how, with support from these workshops, we are changing negative experiences from the past to a positive experience for the future.  One parent spoke of how their learning to read at home, was being smacked if they got a word wrong, and they were so grateful to learn the skills from the workshop series so far, so that he does not repeat this with his own children.

Photo: Ngāti Moko Marae; Tapuika Iwi; Te Arawa.