Te Tiriti o Waitangi Policy 

Pūtake – Rationale 

Te Tiriti o Waitangi, as the foundational document for Aotearoa-New Zealand, creates an ongoing and enduring relationship between Māori and non-Māori. Greymouth High School, as a Crown entity, has a legal and moral obligation to whakamana Te Tiriti o Waitangi in all that we do. 

Whāinga – Purpose

To ensure that Greymouth High School creates conditions where Māori can feel acknowledged, respected and valued through ensuring that Māori rights are honoured, that our Te Tiriti relationship is a healthy one, and that we take continuous and meaningful steps towards decolonisation in our setting. 

Te Ture Matua – Policy

The intention and principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi must be considered, enacted and visible in order to become embedded in all aspects of governance, management and delivery at Greymouth High School. 

Ngā Kōrero Hei Ārahi i te Poari – Guidelines for Board of Trustees 

• Board members continue to deepen their understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, tikanga and te reo Māori through undergoing annual training with a provider who has been approved by the Ngāti Waewae Kōmiti Mātauranga
  
• The Board will actively seek to include and embed te reo and tikanga Māori into our practice. Where te reo Māori is used, we will seek expert advice and input to ensure the reo we are using is accurate and appropriate.
  
• This policy is our primary policy: all other policies, when created and/or reviewed, are guided by this Te Tiriti o Waitangi policy and the framework set out below.
  
• Once approved, all policies will be made available to all other education providers within the Ngāti Waewae takiwā. This is a means for supporting equitable educational outcomes for all Māori within the Ngāti Waewae takiwā, and reflects Greymouth High School’s vision and role as Treaty partner.
  
• Every Board meeting, the Board will answer the question:
  

What have we done in this hui in relation to our Te Tiriti o Waitangi policy? 

Te Tukanga Whakarite/Whakahou – Framework for Policy creation and/or review 

1. Policies Committee commits to ensuring that new policies will be co-constructed with, and existing policies will be reviewed by, Ngāti Waewae, in line with agreement with the Ngāti Waewae Kōmiti Mātauranga
   
2. To ensure that the intention and principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi are embedded in all aspects of governance, management and delivery at Greymouth High School, all current and future policies must state and answer the following question:
   

How does this Policy enact the purpose of Greymouth High School’s Te Tiriti o Waitangi Policy? 

1. Consider the 10 Decolonisation Actions for Tauiwi Led Organisations and their relevance and impact for the Policy being created/reviewed.
   

Ngā Kōrero Hei Ārahi i Ngā Kaiwhakahaere – Guidelines for Management 

1. Strategic actions will be prioritised to promote equity and the status of Māori in the school community.
   
2. The process to develop education pathways for Māori students is an expression of the rangatiratanga of each student, in that the process is led by each student, with whānau involvement encouraged.
   
3. Recruitment of new staff must seek to reflect the school’s community. Currently, this means increasing the proportion of Māori on staff. All advertising for new staff will be copied directly to the office of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Waewae.
   
4. All new staff recruitment will include a requirement to display a commitment to Te Tiriti O Waitangi in personal qualities and expectations.
   
5. Staff will continue to deepen their understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, tikanga and te reo Māori through undergoing annual training with a provider who has been approved by the Ngāti Waewae Kōmiti Mātauranga.
   
6. Staff will actively seek to include and embed te reo and tikanga Māori into all aspects of our practice. Where te reo Māori is used, we will seek expert advice and input to ensure the reo we are using is accurate and appropriate.
   
7. All developments (including but not limited to curriculum, property and procedures) will be developed through engagement with rangatahi and hapori Māori, with respect for tikanga Māori and the needs of mana whenua and our Māori community.
   
8. All new teachers will engage in pōwhiri and wānanga at Arahura Marae at the earliest opportunity.
   
9. Signage will be bilingual, with equal weighting given to te reo Māori and English.
   

How this policy was created and how it should be reviewed

This policy was developed in partnership with Ngāti Waewae. It sets a new direction for Policy development and review at GHS. Further reviews must be in accordance with this policy.

Compliments, Concerns and Complaints Policy

Nāu te rourou, nāku te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi

With your food basket and my food basket, the people will thrive

Greymouth High School works with our whole community to ensure that we are a school that is caring, inclusive and determined to see each student succeed in their own way.  We believe that home and school need to work in partnership to provide the best teaching and learning programmes possible so we also highly value our school communities ideas and suggestions. We welcome whānau coming into our school and getting to know our school environment and our staff. 

Compliments

We appreciate any compliments you believe we deserve.  

We are always striving to provide the very best schooling experience for our rangatahi and when we get things right, we are always thrilled to receive positive feedback so we welcome you to share any directly with a particular teacher, the principal or the Board if you wish to. Any compliments you give will be passed on to the person or group you mention. Compliments also contribute to the school reviews we conduct and to feedback we give to our staff.

Concerns and Complaints

It goes without saying that sometimes, despite our best efforts, we don’t always get things right. 

Our policy and our procedures enable us to:

• ensure whanaungatanga – supporting each other to grow and learn
• treat all people fairly and transparently
• uphold our school ARCH values and the mana and the dignity of our staff, students, whānau and local community in a safe, respectful and culturally appropriate way
• maintain a safe environment for our rangatahi and staff
• resolve matters of concern early, if possible
• respond to feedback and concerns constructively
• deal with complaints fairly, effectively, and in a timely manner
• take into account individual circumstances
• maintain confidentiality
• preserve and enhance school and community relationships
• restore what has been fractured to create utu (reparation) between yourselves and our school
• monitor and record complaints and concerns about student safety and well-being.

At Greymouth High School we encourage open communication and would prefer that you come to us to talk through any issues as promptly as possible.  Most concerns can be resolved informally through discussions face to face with the people concerned. You are always more than welcome to bring someone else with you; we understand that this is not always appropriate and you are more than welcome to approach the principal. Complaints about events that occurred more than three months earlier, do not involve you or your children, or which have been made anonymously, will not usually be formally investigated.

Our policy has clear guidelines for raising and resolving concerns and complaints.

In the first instance please;

1. Call/email the office directly and ask to make an appointment with the person who you would like to talk to in person
2. Call our Kaitakawaenga (School-Home Partnership Promoter) Kiri Russell and ask her to make an appointment for you; she could attend as well. We want to work with you as partners to ensure that all of our rangatahi strive for success​ – Whāia te iti kahurangi