Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Kaikohe students Annay Kara, 17, Koby Kelleher, 15, and Joyce-Anne Kapa, 15, say a new after-school study centre will help them catch up with NCEA qualifications after the disruption of Covid-19. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Kaikohe students Annay Kara, 17, Koby Kelleher, 15, and Joyce-Anne Kapa, 15, say a new after-school study centre will help them catch up with NCEA qualifications after the disruption of Covid-19. Photo / Peter de Graaf
A Northland teacher has dug deep into her own pockets to buy a building so students in her town have a safe place to learn after school.
Moana Timoko, a teacher at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Kaikohe, bought the former Hidden Treasures store on Broadway and converted it intoTe Wā (''the time/space''), a multi-purpose learning centre.
The doors open every Tuesday to Thursday from 4pm-6pm for Wā Ako (''learning time''), which offers free tutoring for any students studying towards NCEA qualifications.
A minimum of two teachers are rostered on though as many as eight, from almost every school in Kaikohe, volunteer per session.
While Te Wā is used mostly by kura kaupapa kids it's open to all. Some students come from as far away as Ōkaihau and Moerewa.
Once a month the space hosts a guest speaker for Wā Kōrero (''talk time'') while a monthly market showcases local products such as student-designed T-shirts.
Regulars include Year 11 student Koby Kelleher, who gets help with his key subjects of te reo Māori, maths and English. It's also a chance to hang out with friends in a place he feels comfortable.
''When Whaea Moana opened this place up it gave us an opportunity to be able to pass NCEA this year. Because of the Covid pandemic we lost time, we lost lessons,'' the 15-year-old said.
Year 13 student Annay Kara attends twice a week for help with maths and to use the wi-fi. Where she lives, in the countryside near Ōkaihau, there's no internet and a lot of schoolwork has to be done online.
Timoko said Te Wā was a passion project which aimed to bring people together for learning.
Te Wā founder Moana Timoko. Photo / Peter de Graaf
She came from a whānau of teachers — her father is head of maths at Northland College, her mother is tumuaki (principal) at Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Kaikohe — so Te Wā was ''just another koha to our community''.
The schedule was guided by maramataka (the lunar cycle) with, for example, events such as the night market held on high-energy days around the full moon and the time around the new moon set aside for healing and health-related events.
In future she hoped to hold Wā Kai sessions to teach young people about cooking and nutrition.
Te Wā had received some Ministry of Education funding and Covid response funding from Te Puni Kōkiri to help students post-lockdown.
When government minister Kelvin Davis and MP Willow-Jean Prime visited last week teacher Nellie Marsh told them the best thing about Te Wā was that it allowed students to see their teachers in a different light.
''It's been really beneficial. They can finish their mahi and there's no stress.''
