TKKM o Mangere says there's no purpose in its senior students going to school

Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Mangere last week sent a panui or notification to all 10 of its Year 13 students telling them their last school day had been brought forward to November 29. 23 November 2024 NZME photograph by Dean Purcell

An Auckland mum says it feels like her son’s school has expelled its entire class of senior students just weeks before the end of term.

Rere Pereiha told the Herald that Te Kura Kaupapa Māori a Rohe o Mangere last week sent a panui or notification to all 10 of its Year 13 students telling them their last school day had been brought forward to November 29.

That meant a planned school trip to Christchurch for the highly popular Wiki Hākinakina sports tournament on December 8-13 had also been cancelled.

The letter appeared to be in response to frequent student absences from class.

It told parents their children’s engagement had declined so much they were no longer “contributing in any manner or way” to the school and there was no purpose in them coming to class.

But Pereiha said the school had not consulted with parents before ending the school year early.

She questioned whether a publicly funded school has the right to decide by itself that it will no longer teach out the full year.

“It honestly feels like an unfair dismissal,” Pereiha said.

Te Kura Kaupapa Maori a Rohe o Mangere has ended its senior classes early, saying there was no purpose for its students being at the school. Photo / Supplied

She accepted that students and families shared responsibility for class absences.

But so did the school as it needed to support students and craft engaging lessons that drew them to class, Pereiha said.

She also criticised the letter’s tone and what she believed was a “lack of respect”.

She said it effectively told students not to “bother coming back” at a sensitive time in their lives when they are trying to find their place in the wider world after school.

“You don’t pull down your kids, you boost them up, you don’t turn around and tell them they’re not gonna make it,” she said.

The letter also failed to acknowledge the students' achievements during the rest of their schooling lives, she said.

Not only had they all previously passed Year 12, but a number of the students had been attending TKKM o Mangere since their first day at school in Year 1, she said.

Many of the students were also from what she called “second generation” families that had long supported the school by having parents, siblings or other family members attend it in the past, Pereiha said.

She said cancelling the Christchurch trip to Wiki Hā - as it’s more commonly known - felt more like punishment than a pragmatic decision.

Six of the 10 senior students had been planning to go to celebrate the end of their school lives, she said.

The biannual sports tournament is one of the biggest events on the school calendar and attracts big and small kura from across Aotearoa.

Te Kura Kaupapa Māori a Rohe o Mangere principal Lucy Te Moana did not reply to Herald emails and phone messages about the letter on Saturday.

In response to questions about whether schools can end classes early, the Ministry of Education directed the Herald to links on its website.

According to the Education Regulations 2024, all schools must complete a minimum number of teaching days during the year.

Once schools have completed that minimum number of teaching days, they can then end the school year at any time they choose.

However, the regulations also state that schools should adequately consult parents when making variations to the teaching schedule.

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