At One Tree Hill College, we have numerous leadership opportunities for our junior students, one of the latest being the Ka Rere Programme. This year marks the fifth-year anniversary of this acceleration initiative catered towards our Year 9 students.  This programme was first introduced in 2022, where it originally focused on Litter Intelligence, Sustainable Coastlines and the Future Problem-Solving process to understand and devise solutions for a ‘future scene’, which was the takeover of the oceans by plastic. Year 13 Prefect Emmanuel Tangimataiti joined the first cohort in 2022 because he couldn't pass up the opportunity to be part of something new from the very beginning.  “I joined because I wanted to challenge myself, and when the programme was first introduced, I didn't know anyone. I was a boy from South Auckland, out of zone, with so many different feelings going through my mind. But Ka Rere gave me the space to grow, socialize, build friendships and connections I truly value.”  Now the programme has steadily evolved into focusing on students understanding themselves as learners. This includes topics such as Multiple Intelligences, Habits of Mind, Neurodiversity, and Memory. In it the students explore the upcoming eras of education by creating the ideal school of the future. They combat issues caused by online teaching, access to technology, personal relationships, and subjects.  This led Year 11 student Jessica Tausilia to join and to recognize that the programme taught her to think about real-world problems, encouraging the development of problem-solving, communication, and leadership abilities. “Its core purpose was to push students to grow and to encourage them to apply critical thinking skills to all aspects of their lives and education,” she said. As this is a highly selective programme, students are invited to participate based on their Term 1 results, transition notes and recommendations from their teachers as well as whānau.  Deputy Principal, Mrs Raukura has been the coordinating teacher for the last four years of the programme and she has put in the hard work articulating the course. A rewarding highlight for her is how she can observe the journey of students from Ka Rere over time as they further experience success both academically and as leaders within our kura. 

Each year she has the privilege of working with students who are motivated, curious, and willing to think outside the box. She firmly believes, “that all students should be challenged to grow and extend their learning, and Ka Rere is one of the ways OTHC supports its top achievers to do exactly that - while also connecting with like-minded peers.” As the teacher in charge, she hopes students who graduate from Ka Rere become lifelong learners that use the knowledge they have gained to develop a deeper understanding of themselves while growing in confidence and self-belief. This is reflected in Year 10 student Vianna Madhwan who learned about critical thinking and outside the box, the brain’s learning styles, leadership, teamwork, and being mindful. She adds, “Participating in a variety of activities strengthened these skills which I found to be very helpful for my education in terms of what would help me as a learner, how to achieve higher by being a next-level thinker, and being an aware leader in team situations.” As graduate students of Ka Rere, all the students were united in extending their immense gratitude to Mrs Raukura as the school celebrates the success of this programme reaching its five-year milestone. 

LISA CAMPBELL & ABISHA NISHANTHKUMAR - NEWS MEDIA TEAM