Kootuitui ki Papakura

Kootuitui ki Papakura is a charitable organisation comprising a collective of community representatives including Mana Whenua, established in late 2015, to provide services for a cluster of schools in Papakura, Auckland, New Zealand. Our purpose is to support whaanau and schools to enable better life outcomes for tamariki. Kootuitui means connecting/linking or weaving together. The name has been chosen in consultation with Mana Whenua. The logo depicts Uenuku, the Rainbow God, as the source providing clarity from heaven. The purple koru represents Education. The green koru represents Health and the lavender koru below represents Whaanau. All three koru connect/link to the universe through the name Kootuitui. The three waves depicted in the purple koru represent kia ako (to learn), kia hanga (to create) and kia tohatoha (to share). Our programme is an integration of the three strands: Education is an Outreach of Manaiakalani and provides 1:1 digital learning for students (one device per student) and professional development for teachers to build their capacity and transform learning environments. Teaching and learning is visible via teacher websites and teacher and student blogs. Health is the provision of daily school health clinics in primary schools with nurses and whaanau workers, and an enhanced health service in the secondary school which includes full-time nurses, youth worker and weekly GP hours. Whaanau: we support whaanau to enable safer and healthier homes, digital learning to support their tamariki, and kai support as needed post-covid. We benefit from the support of funders, partners and community organisations, and the commitment of the schools’ boards, leaders, teachers and staff.