Foote trained at the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute in Rotorua and has been carving on and off for 20 years.
He will be at the school once a week for 20 weeks carving a piece of mataī gifted by Rayonier Matariki Forests.
The piece of wood is thought to be around 1000 years old, give or take a few hundred years, White said.
The 4m section of the tree was split in two lengthways and Kimi Ora School in Flaxmere will be using the other half.
White says this is special and there is now a mauri (life force) which connects the two schools.
During this time the students will be learning about whakairo, observing the progress and using things like soap, pumice or lino for their own carving.
White said it will "tell a story the children have been part of" and viewing the carving each week will mean they become invested in it.
While Foote has initial ideas about what the school wants the piece to tell, this will evolve as he interacts with and is inspired by the timber.
He has created carvings for schools before but never with this level of student interaction with the work.
Foote said interaction will inspire his work and he hopes that the children will become interested in mahi whakairo.
"It is about education and exposing people to the art form, a lot of people don't know about mahi whakairo," he said.
When the pou is finished it will become part of the school's entrance way.
The mataī log, Foote and new teachers, were welcomed to the school with a pōwhiri on the first day of term on Monday.
