Mere

Te Rau Oriwa Early Learning Centre is based in Tokoroa and offers education and care for 40 tamariki, 10 aged under two years and 30 aged between two and five years. The centre is operated by Te Wānanga o Aotearoa. It started out in 2001 as a childcare centre for the tamariki of students attending the Whānanga. Today, the majority of whānau using the service live in the local community.
 * Who we are**

Te Rau Oriwa accepts the challenge to provide a unique, quality Māori early childhood education and care service for tamariki/mokopuna and their whānau. The centre has a strong emphasis on Te Reo Māori and tikanga Māori, these components are embedded into all areas of the curriculum.

As part of our daily programme and routines all tamariki are encouraged and supported to learn their pepeha - their ancestral history that links and connects them with their whānau, hapu and iwi. Through their pepeha, tamariki develop a sense of belonging (a foundation for learning). The spiritual aspects of mana, mauri, tikanga and Te Reo Māori all contribute to tamaiti wairua and their sense of where they fit in the wider world.

This video is of Karlos reciting his pepeha, something which he has become particularly skilled at over time and through practice. He has been given opportunities to do this using KidPix before this particular example was recorded, something that he enjoyed and was very confident using. Karlos has supported other children who are learning to do their pepeha both on KidPix or in front of an audience. By recording Karlos telling his pepeha on video he was able to revisit the experience and share the video with his family who were most impressed.
 * Karlos' story**

media type="file" key="Karlos recites his pepeha.mov" width="300" height="300"

Zedakiah has used KidPix often and is very confident doing so. On this occasion he came to his Whaea with the idea that he create his pepeha using this programme. Zedakiah is bilingual (Maori and English) and switches readily between the two languages.
 * Zedakiah's Story**








 * Conditions that contributed to Karlos' and Zedakiah's literacy learning**
 * Environment - this is a bi-cultural centre where teachers and children think and use both languages English/Maori. There are many opportunities to rehearse cultural values and cultural understanding.
 * Children experienced the support and expectations of teachers and whānau imbued with knowledge of tikanga and Te Reo Māori who were able to 'read' the significance of the children's work and acknowledge the mana this gave the children.
 * New technologies helped motivate the children to explore, make discoveries and try things out - to rehearse their performances.
 * Technologies (eg video) increased opportunities for having an audience (a motivating factor in itself for literacy and performance)
 * Access to technologies provided an opportunity for these children to teach their peers activities involving literacy learning and so progress leadership roles and responsibilities (it reinforced tuakana-teina relationships).