Titiro Whakamua - Hutt Valley Teen Parent School

06/09/2026

Last week we said farewell to our wonderful Dani. She has been such a special part of our TPU whānau. A teen parent herself, she has been an incredible role model for our young mums - proof that having a baby young does not define your future or limit what you can achieve. Dani has gone on to become a fantastic teacher, an educational psychologist, and someone who genuinely cares about making a difference for rangatahi and their tamariki.

She has been a brilliant sounding board, always ready with wisdom, perspective, honesty… and usually something completely silly! She brought so much fun, warmth and laughter to our days, but underneath all of that was someone who cared so much - about our ākonga, their pēpi, their futures and the people she worked alongside. Her love for the babies was next level - Nanny Dani was completely, gloriously obsessed with every single one of them and could rarely resist a cuddle, a chat or a little baby fix.

We will miss her big heart, her humour, her ridiculous moments, her insight and her ability to make people feel heard. But we know she will be utterly amazing in her new role. They are so lucky to have her!

01/09/2026

Last Wednesday we hosted our neighbouring Teen Parent Schools from Puawānanga, Masterton and He Huarahi, Linden for a pickleball competition. Lots of fun was had by all and it was an amazing time to meet other young mamas and challenge each other. We came back to our school for an amazing lunch spread prepared by Jess. Thanks to you all for making it a special day.

20/08/2026

Today Jill from Loved 4 Life popped in with some lovely quilts for our ākonga & pēpē.
Each quilt has 4 ribbons attached in which they can tie a knot for everything they notice e.g baby sleeping well, first tooth, first smile or anytime their child gives them a sense of joy. A celebration of their pēpē's first year. Thanks so much LOVED4LIFE 😍

13/08/2026

12/08/2026

Farewell & thank you, Samara

Recently, we farewelled our amazing Barnardos Social Worker, Samara, after 10 incredible years of supporting our young māmā and their whānau.

From helping navigate housing, family and health challenges to removing barriers to education, Samara has made a lasting difference in the lives of many during her time here.

A graduate of Titiro Whakamua in 2008, Samara went on to complete her Social Work degree before returning to be part of our whānau once again. It has been so special having her with us.

We’re proud to see Samara continuing her journey with Barnardos and gaining new experience in her field.

Ka nui te mihi, Samara! Wishing you and your whānau all the very best for this next chapter. ❤️

10/08/2026

25/06/2026

Today we celebrated Matariki where for 2026 the theme is "Matariki Herenga Waka" encouraging all people and cultures to come together, share their stories and celebrate on common ground.
We did this by gathering together to share our aspirations for ourselves and our tamariki, we then with guidance from Jodi (our head teacher at Titiro Whakamua Kindergarten) all contributed a stitch or two to a korowai for our tamariki. This will be used to celebrate their successes in our kindy.
Then we wrote our fears, worries, and things we needed to be rid of, which we then burnt symbolising the release from all these things.
To finish our celebrations we enjoyed gathering together over Kai, warm delish soup, fry bread, garlic loaves, and star biscuits (kindly prepared by Jess, Racheal, Tihei and our ākonga who baked the sweet treats).
Oh and it was wear your pj's to Kura day 😀 which on a cold winter's day was very comfy.

21/06/2026

Taking advantage of a beautiful winter day on Friday we finally got to complete the bush walk to the historic Birchville dam. Built in 1930, the dam supplied water to Upper Hutt until 1958. It is now a lovely family friendly walk with an amazing waterfall over the dam walls. The day was finished off with a bit of competitive fun games back at school.

18/06/2026

Our highlight of the week was having Richie Hardcore visit us at Heretaunga College where in his words...

"It was another reminder that our rangatahi want to talk about the world they are navigating. We discussed all the things, how intergenerational trauma can show up in our lives, how p**n is an unhealthy model for our s*xual education, social media and influencers, breaking out of the man box, and giving each other permission to be who we really are, amongst other things!
Thanks so much all the students I met, who listened, and who had something to share, you guys are the best. I loved hearing your thoughts and feedback.
Thank you so much for gifting me your waiata and haka respectively; it’s an honor to experience.
A huge thank you to Greg Finnigan and Sallie Calvert at Upper Hutt City Council for your efforts to facilitate these talks happening. I’m grateful for your hospitality."

So much to process, what an awesome event thanks HC

11/06/2026

This week we celebrated milestones for both the Teen Parent School and the kindergarten. Titiro Whakamua turned 29 years old and our kindergarten celebrated 100yrs of Kindergarten being established in New Zealand.
This was commemorated by our kindergarten holding a tree planting ceremony to mark this event. We all wrote on small bits of paper our dreams and aspirations for our tamariki and the centre, we then placed these into the hole before planting the tree, finishing with enjoying some kai together.
It was lovely to have our wider community join us to mark this special occasion.