Poutama Pounamu

🌟 Great News for Future School Leaders! 🌟

Poutama Pounamu and Te Whai Toi Tangata have secured a seven‑year national contract to deliver the Aspiring Principal Programme, supporting experienced educators across Aotearoa to step confidently into principalship.

Beginning April 2026, participants will receive tailored mentoring and leadership development, grounded in Te Tiriti o Waitangi and designed to strengthen the pipeline of future principals nationwide.

🔗 Read more:

Waikato secures programme to strengthen pipeline of school principals across New Zealand :: University of Waikato Experience vibrant student life at University of Waikato. From sports clubs to high performance programmes, discover endless opportunities for growth.

🌱 New Research from Mere Berryman, Lesley Rameka, and colleagues 🌱
We are excited to share a powerful new article published in AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples that explores relational sensemaking between babies and their whānau — beginning even before conception.
In this piece, Mere, Lesley, and their co-authors draw on ancient Māori creation pūrākau alongside contemporary whānau recollections to illuminate the deep, intuitive ways babies connect with their people from the very beginning. Their work highlights concepts such as tairongo (a sixth sense or intuition) and shows how relational practices grounded in whakapapa, story, and collective care continue to shape early development today. [profiles.w...kato.ac.nz]
This research strengthens our understanding of the cultural, spiritual, and relational foundations that support pēpi and whānau wellbeing — knowledge that has guided Māori for generations and continues to offer wisdom for the future.
📖 Read the full article here:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/11771801251409093
Ngā mihi nui to our colleagues for this beautiful and important contribution. 💛

Relational sensemaking: understanding connections between babies and their people beginning from conception - Mere Berryman (Ngāi Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Whare), Lesley Rameka (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Tukorehe), Diana Cruse (Ngāti Kahungungu),... Recollections about procreation, by descendants of iwi (Indigenous tribes) in Aotearoa New Zealand, and authenticated writings from seminal Māori (Indigenous pe...

🌿 MAURI ORA – LEADING FOR THE FUTURE 🌿
📅 22–23 January 2026
📍 Huria Marae, Tauranga

Are you ready to lead with purpose and vision? Join us for a powerful two-day wānanga that bridges education and leadership theory with practice — deeply grounded in the history of Aotearoa and our shared aspirations, identities, and purpose.
✨ Learn from the past
✨ Engage with the present
✨ Shape a shared future

This is more than a workshop — it’s a movement toward equity, excellence, and belonging. Proudly brought to you by Poutama Pounamu and The University of Waikato.

🔗 Registrations are now open!
👉 Secure your spot today and be part of this transformative experience. Click the link to register — spaces are limited and filling fast! https://www.ivvy.com.au/event/G4WLSL/

MAURI ORA - LEADING FOR THE FUTURE
Learning from the past, and engaging with the present to shape a shared future

This wānanga bridges education and leadership theory and practice, grounding it in the history of Aotearoa, and in our own shared purpose, aspirations and identities.

When: Friday 10th Oct 2025 - Saturday 11th Oct 2025
Where: Huria Marae, 1 Te Kaponga Street, Brookfield, Tauranga

Participants will engage with relevant research and socio-political contexts to unpack how education can either uphold privilege and inequity, or through transformative change, create a more responsible and socially just future.

Find out more and book your place now https://www.ivvy.com.au/event/G4WLSL/

https://waateanews.com/2025/04/15/professor-mere-berryman-director-of-poutama-pounamu/

Have a listen to Mere Berryman speak to Waatea News about a University of Waikato programme targeted at addressing teacher shortages and increasing the number of Māori teachers in Northland.

Professor Mere Berryman | Director of Poutama Pounamu Inaugural students from a programme targeted at addressing teacher shortages and increasing the number of Māori teachers in Northland are graduating today.

A reason to celebrate. Meet the graduates of Cohort 1 who began their journey towards becoming qualified teachers in 2023. On Tuesday their efforts were celebrated at our Tauranga campus graduation ceremony. Four graduates were unable to attend so graduated in absentia.

This University of Waikato degree has been taught through marae-based wānanga, combining distance learning with wrap-around support from local iwi and school communities. The response was so positive that a second cohort started in 2024.

Proudly re-sharing this clip of Te Kuru Marutea and their waiata Kei Wareware i a Tātou which went on to win the people’s choice award at this year’s Matatini. The second soloist is Bailee Hart-Tava who is the daughter of Miranda Joass, a respected member of our Poutama Pounamu whānau.

Send a message to learn more

Closing the educational gap between indigenous and non-indigenous students. Join Professor Mere Berryman alongside fellow panelists Phillip Brooks and Ben Bowen in shaping the future of First Nations students through genuine partnerships, cultural strength, and systemic intervention.

https://go.the-hatchery.co/speaker8580

For those who may have missed it -

Check out this new resource from the Ombudsman entitled "Tuia kia ōrite | Keeping things fair – fairness teaching resources" 👇

Tuia kia ōrite | Keeping things fair – fairness teaching resources ​Tuia kia ōrite and Keeping Things Fair are teaching resources to support civics learning for ākonga (students) ranging from years 1 to 10.

Making the news in Te Hiku 😁

Teacher training now in Te Hiku with unique Far North programme Te Hiku teacher training course aims to alleviate Far North teacher shortage.