Article: History Of Pt England School

 Pt England School

Source: Pt England School

Demographics of Pt England School

Pt England School is located in East Auckland. The address is 130 Pt England Road, Pt England, Auckland, 1072. Pt England School is located right next to Pt England beach, which is pretty awesome. Pt England is a full primary school mearing that it accepts students from year 1 all the way to year 8. It is a co-educational school which means it is open enrolment to both boys and girls. The gender demographic of the school as at July 2021 is 276 female and 305 males students, that is 581 students in total. The ethnic demographic of the school as at July 2021 is 186 Māori, 346 Pacific, 31 Asian, 10 other and 8 European/Pākehā. 

 

Manaiakalani

Manaiakalani, the hook from heaven, has become known throughout New Zealand for supporting schools in low socio-economic and challenged communities to achieve significant improvements in student outcomes, realising learners' potential and enabling digital citizenship for tauira and their whānau. The following descriptors provide entry points for learning more about Manaiakalani and the people in this partnership. The Manaiakalani cluster of 12 schools forms a community of learning in Tāmaki ie. Glen Innes, Pt England, Panmure. The 12 schools include Glenbrae, Glen Innes, Glen Taylor, Panmure Bridge, Pt England, Ruapotaka, St Patricks, St Pius X, Sommerville Special, Stonefields, Tamaki College, and Tamaki Primary. The Manaiakalani Education Trust (MET) began in 2011 to form a governance body in support of TMP and in service of the schools. Manaiakalani offers some great opportunities for the learners of all of the schools with a big one being the Manaiakalani film festival that runs every year. 

 

Mālama Honua

Whether we are Maori, Samoan, Tongan, Cook Island, Niuean, Fijian, Pakeha or even African, we are all descended from ancestors who were extraordinary navigators. People who made epic journeys so that we can enjoy the lives we now have. This event was held to remember the amazing skills of these people, their courage, their determination and  the way they provided for their families and their future. We want to honour them for the gift they have given us and to remind ourselves that as their children, we can accomplish great things too.

We honour Maui tiki-tiki-a-tāranga. An extraordinary innovator who combined ancient wisdom with excellent technology to make landfall in the Islands of Aotearoa and provide a new home for his people. In front of us today, we see the amazing technology he used. In a wonderful way, in the tradition of the Navigators, Manaiakalani the star-line has brought Mālama Honua to us, "Manaiakalani the People" using the same technologies Maui used all those centuries ago.

 

The Manaiakalani Kaupapa by Mr Burt

The Manaiakalani story is powerful and liberating. The name Manaiakalani was chosen for the work of enfranchisement and growing success in citizenship by our group of schools  in Tamaki, Tamaki Makaurau (Auckland) Aotearoa/New Zealand because of the inspirational and courageous behaviour of its principal character, Maui Tikitiki-a-Taranga as he harnessed ancient knowledge and combined it with effective technology to bring about an expansive and empowered future for his people.

The story was told us by our Kaumatua, Ihaka (Ike) Samuels who at the time was one of the four “kingmakers” of Tainui in Aotearoa.Our belief is that early in the 1st millenium AD,  Maui began his epic journey across Te Moana nui-a-Kiwa (the Pacific Ocean)

In the story as told us by Ihaka, Maui, the left handed man, who was marginalised by his whanau, went to his many times great grandmother Mahuika and was given wisdom from her jaw, (symbolic of her speech), wherein she described a great hook in the sky, Manaiakalani, the “Hook of Heaven”. She instructed Maui that if one followed this hook, the constellation or “star line” Manaiakalani, one would make landfall on Te Ika o Maui, the North Island of Aotearoa.

This story is a very significant variation on the “Legend of Maui” that children in New Zealand are told in school, where Mahuika gives Maui a hook from the bone of her jaw and Maui uses blood as bait to fish up Te Ika o Maui,

Maui and his use of Manaiakalani to guide his Waka Hourua has strong historicity and is a remarkable example of blending wisdom, knowledge and technology to bring about a bright future in a land of hope. Evidence of Maui and his voyages are found across Melanesia and Polynesia and his name is well known and respected right across the Pacific. His response to marginalisation and his indomitable courage and determination to seek a better future is a marvellous example, not only of the efficacy, panache and courage of the Pacific Navigators but also a powerful inspiration for the descendants of the Navigators wherever they live on planet earth.

The Star Line Manaiakalani (the Hook of Heaven) is a marvellous symbol of hope and direction. In order to achieve maramatanga (enlightenment) we need the wisdom of our forebears, and we need to set our sights on higher things that can take us to new places of knowledge, understanding, action and satisfaction. We need to be innovators and risk takers who combine the old with the new and like the navigators, find our way place by place, island by island, never losing sight of who we are and where we’ve come from.