Small Potaka school dreams big

FUTURE LEADERS: Year seven Potaka School students from left Ngaru Toa Puru, Jolena Bishop-Smith, Anahera Taitua and Manaia Okwara stand proudly with the booklets they received at the National Young Leader’s Day conference in Rotorua. Picture supplied

THE sky is the limit for Potaka School students following a special trip to the National Young Leader’s Day. Potaka is a primary and intermediate school with 13 students, 20 minutes inland from Hicks Bay.

Last week the school’s four year 7 students and their principal left their isolated, rural community for the Rotorua event.

The conference takes place annually across New Zealand and is designed to inspire and foster young leaders.

“Our children came away feeling excited about their futures and the different paths they will take,” said principal Claudine Okwara.

Each conference features guest speakers and workshops, including question opportunities and activities.

Dancer Brylee Mills and entertainer Pio Terei were favourites of the Potaka School students.

“I liked Brylee Mills because she didn’t let anyone or anything get in the way of her dreams to become a dancer. She danced on stage for us and it was amazing,” said student Jolena Bishop-Smith.

Ngaru Toa Puru enjoyed how Pio Terei delivered a serious message about choosing the right friends and making good choices in a humorous way.

“I enjoyed Pio Terei the most because he was so funny and told some mean jokes. I couldn’t stop laughing.”

InspirationBut it wasn’t just humour that students took away from the day’s events. Many of the Potaka students said they had been inspired to help others and to work hard to achieve their goals.

“It inspired me to always try hard and never give up when things get hard,” said Ngaru Toa.

Arriving at the conference required determination in itself, with the sole-charge principal driving the group nearly four hours to the event.

Entry fees, school tracksuits and accommodation were funded by Te Runanganui o Ngati Porou in collaboration with Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour.

“If our school, community, whanau, hapu and iwi are working together to support, cultivate and encourage our students to dream big and be the best they can be, we will raise leaders of the future,” Mrs Okwara said.

Dreaming big is well-known to Mrs Okwara, who travelled and taught across the world after gaining her teaching registration at James Street School in Whakatane.

Educational philosophyThe first-time principal, appointed in 2015, says her own educational philosophies align with those of the school.

“I want our students to leave Potaka School with all the necessary tools to become successful in life,” she said.

Although the school received negative feedback from the Education Review Office in 2012, Mrs Okwara believes the steps taken following this report have given the school a new and positive image, with potential for more improvements.

Like the direction of the school, the principal also believes in the potential of her students.

“We come from one of the most isolated and beautiful communities in the world — it is not without its challenges and hardships but it definitely produces leaders.”