The celebration of Te Rā Whakapūmau 2025 – Graduation Day – last month held special significance for Te Wānanga o Raukawa. Fifty years ago, in 1975, Whakatupuranga Rua Mano – the visionary kaupapa of Professor Emeritus Whatarangi Winiata and the Raukawa Marae Trustees – led to establishment of the Wānanga. Since those early days,... Keep Reading

Yilin Lyu is Ōtaki College dux for 2025. Yilin received the Fun Zone Scholarship, the Wakefields Lawyers Scholarship and the Andrew Philips Cup for dux. She also received the MI Turnbull Award for t op year 13 student. She intends to study for a bachelor of science at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland, majoring in biomedical... Keep Reading

Two former students of Ōtaki College have been recognised for their achievement by being inducted into the XŌtaki College Hall of Fame. Lincoln Nicholls and Kathy Tracey are the fourth duo honoured by the XŌtaki College Alumni Trust. They join David Pritchard and Chris Parkin (2018), Jackie Sutton and Peter Housiaux (2021), and John... Keep Reading

Te Wānanga o Raukawa has signed a landmark agreement with the Office of the Auditor General reaffirming its status as a non-crown entity and placing its governance and accountability firmly in the hands of its founding iwi. The iwi, known as the ART Confederation, are Te Ātiawa ki Whakarongotai, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, and Ngāti Toa... Keep Reading

Many innovation and technology companies in the region report that skilled talent is hard to come by, despite an economic downturn and the threat to employment by things like AI. One would think that with rising unemployment and more people wanting to live here, there wouldn’t be too much difficulty. But the facts are clear, with many... Keep Reading

Professor Meihana Durie as been appointed as the new tumuaki (chief executive) at Te Wānanga o Raukawa. Meihana takes over from Mereana Selby, effective from February. He is a distinguished graduate and former staff member of the Wānanga, and has been deeply involved in the institution’s growth since 2000. He has held key roles such as... Keep Reading

Year 4 students at Waitohu School got a morning out of class when they visited the under-construction Ōtaki reservoir on November 27. The visit was organised by Kāpiti Coast District Council, with project manager Aaron Flitcroft telling the students all about the work and offering lots of intriguing statistics. There were plenty of wide... Keep Reading

Ōtaki College dux Louis Bevan might look to the stars, but his feet are firmly on the ground. Louis was announced as dux at the college prize-giving night on October 27. He’s a maths whizz who is going to to study astronomy. But he’s no science geek, evidenced by the Chairperson’s Award for All-Round Excellence, another of a brace of... Keep Reading

A community café, a classroom, a place where you can watch the ocean – they’re all on the back of a truck parked at the beach. The “house truck” was built by students at Te Kura ā Iwi o Whakatupuranga Rua Mano (WRM). It serves primarily as a koha-operated café for anyone who wants to drop in for a chat, a cup of tea or coffee,... Keep Reading

School principals in Ōtaki have joined others in Kāpiti to voice concerns in response to a recent column by Ōtaki MP Tim Costley about maths achievement. The column in Ōtaki Today and Kāpiti News led to educators saying his depiction of a “total system failure” in education was misleading and risked eroding trust between schools,... Keep Reading

A change to the free school lunch programme is going to be a “huge step backwards” for Ōtaki College, says principal Andy Fraser. The government announced in the Budget on May 8 that from the end of the year, funding for year 7 students and above through the lunch programme Ka Ora, Ka Ako would reduce from $8 a child to $3. That affects... Keep Reading

July marks 70 years since Ōtaki Playcentre was established. The playcentre is celebrating on Saturday, July 27, at the playcentre on Mill Road. There will be speeches from members over the decades since 1954, music and poetry, singing of the national playcentre waiata, displays, shared kai and reminiscing. Local Hira Royal was a founding... Keep Reading

Former Ōtaki College principal and stalwart of the Rāhui Rugby Club Rex Kerr has been honoured in the King’s Birthday awards with an MNZM. The announcement by the Deparment of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) on King’s Birthday Monday, June 3, said Rex was to be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) “for services to... Keep Reading

“We’re keeping it.” Those words from Christopher Luxon referring to the school lunch programme for Ōtaki children were music to Heniti Buick’s ears. The prime minister had dropped in to Ōtaki on April 24 at the invitation of Ōtaki MP Tim Costley to see what Te Puna Oranga o Ōtaki was all about. Heniti, kaiwhakahaere (general... Keep Reading

A new baby and a nephew with learning challenges were two of the motivations for Leslie Louise Bishop (Bee) to delve into the world of gardening. The passion has led her to help establish a garden at St Peter Chanel School, and a community garden on her mother’s land from which fresh produce goes free to people in the community. She’s... Keep Reading

John Barrett and Rex Kerr are this week being inducted into the Ōtaki College Hall of Fame. In a ceremony at the college on Friday night (December 15), the honours board in the college hall will include their names alongside David Pritchard and Chris Parkin (inducted at the inaugural Hall of Fame function in 2018), and Pete Housiaux and... Keep Reading

The graduation of Ōtaki’s Kelly-Anne Ngātai as a fully qualified wāhine carver was a highlight of Te Wānanga o Raukawa’s graduation ceremony on Friday, December 8. She is the first wāhine to complete Poutuarongo Toi Whakarākai – Whakairo (Bachelor of Design and Art – Carving), after joining the course to study full-time three... Keep Reading

Ōtaki College’s 2023 dux is off to Tauranga next year to study engineering. The study choice is perhaps no surprise given Hayley Boyer’s dad, Glenn, has been in the construction industry most of his working life. But Hayley is clearly her own person. She has her firmly sights set on completing a bachelor of engineering with honours at... Keep Reading

Ten students and three staff members of Robert Gordon’s College in Aberdeen, Scotland, were welcomed to Ōtaki with a ceremony at Raukawa Marae on Monday (October 9). Among them was Robert Gordon’s head of school, Robin Macpherson, and the 2012 Ōtaki Scholar, Sean Press. They were welcomed onto the marae by Ngā Hapū o Ōtaki, who were... Keep Reading

Ahoaho, the horticulture block at Ōtaki College, is moving to a more self-sustaining footing with a focus on market gardening. Mike King revived the block in 2021, but moved on late last year. Since then, Rosa Yates and Jack Leason have managed the project. “We recently received significant funding from Te Puta Ora to start creating a... Keep Reading