The Pou that/of Lift up, Support, Set off the rivers”

There are 7 key parts to this Pou. The 4 House Awa, The Makirikiri, Our new team names, Our new class names, The Poutmama, The Wai at the top and the Year 6 leavers themselves.

The first, representing the 4 houses of our school. Our houses were introduced this year for the first time. They were named after awa that flow through our turangawaewae. The 4 awa are the Ngaruroro, Raupare, Ruahapia and the Karamu. All 4 awa connect at Waitangi estuary and then make their way out to sea. However our main awa, in which Mahora takes its name from, that ran through the school itself, was not chosen to be a House. The Makirikiri. This is because this is our school's main awa and we all belong to it. 

The Makirikiri is the spine of the Pou and is gold to represent our school. It was made as the spine as not many people know about the Makirikiri and we wanted to highlight its significance and importance to our school. The kowhaiwhai is called “Ngaru” and represents the waves from the ocean and awa.. The four houses branch off from it, not literally in real life but metaphorically on the Pou.  

The Purple represents Ngaruroro with the kowhwaiwhai ‘Pakati’. Which symbolises warriors, challenges and courage.

The Red represents Raupare with the kowhaiwhai ‘The koru symbolises new beginnings, birth and the unfolding of life.’. 

The Blue represents Ruahapia with the kowhaiwhai ‘Mangōpare”. The hammerhead shark. It is a symbol of strength, determination, leadership and power.’ 

The Green represents Karamu with the kowhaiwhai ‘Koiri’ The Koiri is a symbol of self-reflection and nurturing. It also means to flourish.

The Year 6 leaders of 2022 signed their names in the house they belong too.

The Pou is split into 5 layers. The bottom, being the poutama. Representing the earth and Papatuanuku. Its painted in our 5 value colours as our school values are our foundation as Mahora kids and keep us grounded and help us to stand strong. 

The second, third and fourth layers represent our teams in the school. This year our teams were named after the different levels of the canopy in the Ngahere (He Kakano, Mahuri and Whanake) and the classes were named from native plants that grow in those certain levels. 

The final layer represents wai. Rather than representing the sky at the top, we chose to go with wai as it represents life for any community and was the inspiration for our house names. Wai was one of the recommendations from our Mahora community to name our school houses from. “Without wai, you cannot have life. It was here before us and it will still be here after we are gone.”

This Pou represents and acknowledges where we have come from, who we are today and the importance of nurturing our awa and Ngahere in the same in which we nurture our tamariki and people.

Tuturu whakamaua kia tina!

Haumi e, Hui e Taiki e!