15/03/2026
He kōrero pōuri tēnei. This Kuia has been a major part of the shaping of our kaupapa
E Kui, kātahi taru pōrearea ko te rongo kōrero kua riro nei koe.
I haramai i te hau kapekape ka pā kino ki ahau, e te mate kāmehameha o te wā e Rire Tilly Reedy, moe mai koe.
E te uri o Te Aitanga-a-Mate, te puiaki o Ngāti Porou, ka moe nei ō karu.
E kui, e hora nei Te Whāriki a Te Kōhanga Reo nāu, nā kōrua ko tō hoa, ko Tā Tamati ngā kōrero i whakakao hei kaupapa whakapūmau i te mana motuhake o Te Kōhanga Reo.
Ki konei tuku ai te kupu aroha ki a Tā Tamati, ka haere mokemoke nei i te ao. Inā hoki tā kōrua piri tata i te wā o te ora, kaupapa atu ko kōrua kōrua.
He kōkiri kau i ngā kaupapa a te iwi Māori, kia whai wāhi mai te tirohanga a te Māori i ngā takatū, i te ao mātauranga, i ngā tōrangapū.
Ka mau āringa tātou ka tuhi ai ki te kahu o te pepa ko ngā whakaaro o te motu, ka whakakōpaki hei mātauranga, ko tētahi mā te ao pākehā, ko tēnei mā Te Kōhanga Reo, ka tapaina ki Te Whāriki.
Ka tohua e kōrua kia noho motuhake tētahi i tētahi, ā, ka huraina ko ngā taumata whakahirahira hei whai mā te kaupapa i kotahi ai te hā o te tīpuna me te mokopuna. Ko te pouri nui kāore koe e kite i te ekenga o te taonga o Te Whāriki ki te 30 i tēnei tau, heoi, ka whakanuia kōrua e te marea, ka hau tonu ō rongotoa.
Nō reira, haramai Pōhutukawa, tīkina ake rā te tau o taku ate. Ka whakakau ake kia mārama he rangatira tēnei e apakuratia ana. E te Kahurangi, kei hea koe e ngaro nei. Kei te ngahengahe o te wao pea, kei te rehutai o te moana pea, māna, kei te ngākau o tō iti e tangi tīkapa nei. Auē taukuri e.
It is with deep sadness that we share the passing of Kahurangi Tilly Te Koingo Reedy, aged 91.
A pioneer of Māori education, Kahurangi Tilly, together with her husband Tā Tamati Reedy, brought a strong Māori worldview to education in Aotearoa, ensuring that te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and the values of te ao Māori were recognised within education.
During the formative years of the Kōhanga Reo movement, Kahurangi Tilly worked alongside leaders of the time who were determined to restore te reo Māori and nurture mokopuna within their own language and culture. It was Kahurangi Tilly, together with Tā Himi Henare, who coined the phrase “Kōhanga Reo – the language nest,” describing a place where mokopuna would be nurtured within a total Māori immersion environment.
In the early 1990s, when a national early childhood curriculum was being developed, Kahurangi Tilly and Tā Tamati Reedy represented the voice of the Kōhanga Reo movement. Travelling throughout the motu, they gathered the whakaaro of Kōhanga Reo whānau, kaiako and kaumātua, ensuring that Māori values and aspirations would help shape the curriculum.
From the many voices and contributions across the early childhood sector emerged Te Whāriki: He Whāriki Mātauranga mō ngā Mokopuna o Aotearoa, the bilingual national early childhood curriculum for Aotearoa, recognising the spiritual and inherent mana of the mokopuna.
Kahurangi Tilly described Te Whāriki as “a tapestry for life,” a woven foundation that draws on whakapapa, language, culture and identity to support the learning journeys of mokopuna.
“Ko te mana āhua ake o te mokopuna,” the uniqueness and inherent mana of each mokopuna who stands at the centre of our kaupapa.
This year marks 30 years since Te Whāriki was first woven and shared with the nation, and it continues to guide early learning across Aotearoa and remains internationally recognised for its visionary approach.
While our beloved kuia Kahurangi Tilly is no longer with us, we honour Tā Tamati and their whānau for their immense contribution to Aotearoa and to Te Kaupapa o Te Kōhanga Reo. Her legacy lives on in the generations of mokopuna whose learning journeys continue to be guided by the foundations she helped weave.
He pou kuia nō te ao mātauranga Māori.
Ngā Whakaritenga
Kahurangi Tilly is returning home from Wellington to Hiruharama.
Nehu (Burial):
Saturday 14 March, 11.00am
Nō reira e kui, e rere rā i runga i ngā parirau o te aroha ki tō tātou Matua nui i te rangi.
Waiho mai ko te hā o ngā mokopuna o te motu hei kawe tonu i te kaupapa,hei ōhākī mōu.
