BayTrust is committing almost a quarter of a million dollars to enable a ground-breaking project between local schools and Tauranga Moana iwi to get up-and-running this year.

Web developers are now being appointed and content will soon be created for a new educational portal called Te Tai Whanake ki Tauranga Moana. It is the first project of its kind in New Zealand and will give the region's three iwi – Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Pūkenga – a comprehensive voice in the classroom and beyond.

Teachers from early childhood through to Year 13 will be able to access learning resources, including foundational Te Reo and tikanga lessons, that are specific to their school's geographic location and tell stories from their local iwi's point of view.

Otumoetai Intermediate Principal and Te Tai Whanake ki Tauranga Moana Kaitiaki Group Chairman, Henk Popping, says the aim is to produce a more enlightened and supportive generation of kids who can see the world through a Te Ao Māori lens.

'This project was first mooted in 2015 among local educators and iwi. 'We realised we were all trying to reinvent the wheel. People were floundering as to what we do when it comes to curriculum and Te Reo and local histories. With the three iwi in our area that have different histories, how do we do that? So we decided to get together to develop our own solution.”

The $1.1m project coincided with the Government's decision to introduce a new Aotearoa Histories curriculum in schools this year, so the new web portal will deliver on those requirements.

The Ministry of Education is watching closely to see how Tauranga's solution could be replicated elsewhere.

The curriculum will be layered across many subjects, including history, English and science, and will also cover protocols such as pepeha and mihi. As students get older, they'll build on their previous knowledge and experience.

'The beauty is it's very localised. A teacher at Omanu Primary School will be able to access information, history and stories that are linked to Mauao, for example. Whereas for someone in Otumoetai, the content will be related to the stories and history from that side of town.”

A high level of collaboration is central to the project along with an agreement to respect the mana and history of each iwi as they each have their own narrative.

TECT and the Ministry of Education have also contributed financially, with BayTrust's grant the final piece of the funding puzzle to fall into place.

'We hope to start trialing the new portal with some schools later this year, with an official rollout to all 67 schools in the region by October 2023,” Popping says.

'We're extremely grateful to these organisations for their financial support. BayTrust and TECT have come together on such a significant project at a time when we're all struggling with things like Covid. So it's like a breath of fresh air of something that we can all work towards – something that's really positive.”

BayTrust CEO Alastair Rhodes says the $225,000 grant will be split over three years ($75,000 each year).

The wider funding pool will allow the web portal to be developed, plus an education manager and project lead to be hired for each of the three iwi.

'This is a unique opportunity to help Bay students understand our local history from all perspectives, have empathy with iwi, learn to practice tikanga in their daily lives and pronounce Māori words correctly. The flow-on effects will be enormous and aren't limited to just children. Everyone will be able to access the Te Tai Whanake ki Tauranga Moana portal – locals and visitors alike – to learn more about our history from a Māori point of view.”