Nau mai, haere mai ki Te Tikanga Rua Reo

Ko te manu e kai ana i te miro, nōnā te ngahere.  Ko te manu e kai ana i te mātauranga, nōnā te ao.

The forest belongs to the bird who feasts on the miro berry, the world belongs to the bird who feasts on education.

Te Hītori o Te Tikanga Rua Reo 
In the mid 1980’s the Department of Education made its first moves to cater for graduates of Te Kohanga Reo who were beginning to enter schools as speakers of Māori. Its first initiative was the establishment of a new kaiako support role called the kaiārahi reo. As the title suggests, the position entailed leading the development of the students’ te reo in the classroom, alongside the classroom kaiako. 
St. Albans was the first school in Ōtautahi (Christchurch) chosen to host such a position, the rationale being that children were beginning to enter kura from the well-established kōhanga reo nearby at Rehua Marae. Without continuity in their te reo Māori education it was evident that the gains they had made would soon be lost in an English only speaking school environment. 
The first kaiārahi reo was a tutor at Rehua Kōhanga Reo, Marama Harvey, (daughter of Aunty Lu Williams). Initially Marama worked alongside the kaiako in the junior class identified to receive kōhanga reo graduates (she later undertook teacher training and returned as a bilingual class teacher). 
This new initiative was a major change to the nature of Hato Ōpani/St Albans School, which formerly received few Māori pupils, and thus it was a little while before the new programme was fully accepted. It was, however, soon accepted by the vast majority in the school and community, and a formal bilingual class was established. The programme had its ups and downs in the early years but stood strong and developed due to the commitment and input of the whānau of the time, the hard work of kaiako, and the backing of the Board of Trustees. 
In 1991 Tosh/Hukere Ruwhiu (Pā) arrived to take on the role of Kaiārahi Reo. With his input and guidance in te reo and tikanga Māori, and the hard work of dedicated kaiako, the programme moved ahead. The name Te Tikanga Rua Reo was the name that Pā gave to us which encompasses our aim for tamariki to achieve competence in all aspects of both Māori and English. It has purposefully been named as Te Tikanga Rua Reo as opposed to Te Tikanga Reo Rua as Pā wished to emphasise two languages with equal importance as opposed to using the translation of the word ‘bi-lingual’.

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 Enrolment Information
Te Tikanga Rua Reo is a special programme operated by St Albans School. Students need to meet the criteria for enrolment in the special programme.
Please visit our school website to complete an online enrolment form, once this is processed the Kaiwhakahaere will be in contact.