Bay Harbour: September 30, 2020

Wednesday September 30 2020
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
BAY HARBOUR
PAGE 15
Linwood
College
Above the Ground and Now Over the Fence
Kia ora koutou. Talofa. Kia Orana. Malo e lelei. Bula. Fakaalofa atu. Namaste
and Kumusta. Greetings to everyone at LCŌ and our wider LCŌ community.
It is very heartening to see the visible signs of progress with our rebuild for
our return to Aldwins Rd to what will be Te Aratai College. Those of us who
have peered through the gate over the past weeks have seen the foundation
work progress to be above ground, and now we see structures over the fence.
It is worth remembering too just how good this rebuild is. As we have said
in the past, the next time that you are in Tūranga, the central library, look up
and look around. The same architect, Carsten Auers of Architectus, who
designed Tūranga, is the architect for our school. Stunning.
Likewise, Southbase Construction is a highly
experienced and expert construction company with
major success in many school redevelopment,
whether totally new or a rebuild.
Shifting a school comes with its own set
of challenges. For a start, there are the
logistics of moving everything from
basketballs to hydrochloric acid, but more
importantly, there is ensuring consistency
of belonging and connection to our school,
and ensuring consistency of learning.
However, these challenges are much
more positive ones to work through than
the challenges of being at school in the
middle of a building site: safety, noise, dust,
temporary buildings, reduced playing areas
and so on. And, as I have said before, our leaving
Aldwins Road means a year comes off the building
programme and there is a saving of a $1m that has been
retained in the programme.
Mr Ken Bye, a former (and legendary) LHS-LC history teacher and Head of
Social Sciences, spoke at the Farewell Celebration Weekend in April 2019 to
the hundreds of past pupils who attended this wonderful weekend to celebrate
and farewell LHS-LC’s first 65 years. During his talk, he used the phrase,
“If only these walls could talk” and this firmly resonated with me. Ken was
absolutely right. A lot of life occurs in a school and as a community resource
and focal point, schools experience all the joys and tragedies that occur in a
community. Our leaving those original school buildings was a significant event
in our school’s history, and fortunately, is one which helps springboard us into a
new era for LC. We leave in order to return, but we leave aware of, and thankful
to, all the people who have gone before and all that they have done for us.
Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi engari he toa takitini - My strength is not mine
alone; my strength is from many.
Te Aratai - Pathway to the Sea
With the rebuild underway, it is now an appropriate time to consider the school’s
name. Te Ngāi Tūāhuriri Rūnanga has gifted a new name to the school and it is
one that our Board of Trustees have whole-heartedly supported. The name is
Te Aratai. In English: pathway to the sea.
The guiding reasons underpinning the name has been outlined by Dianne
Robinson on behalf of Ngāi Tūāhuriri. Dianne is a Mana Whenua Education
Facilitator for Mātauraka Mahaanui:
“Linwood College on Aldwins Road is adjacent to the direct pathway (now
Linwood Ave) to Te Ihutai, “The Avon-Heathcote Estuary” which was part
of a larger fishery used by Ngāi Tūāhuriri. Te Ihutai, was renowned
for its abundance and variety of fish and shellfish, including tuna
(eels), kanakana (lamprey), inaka (whitebait), pātiki (flounder),
and pipi. Several nearby kāinga nohoanga (settlements) took
advantage of the estuary’s rich food resources, with caves
along the base of the nearby foothills providing necessary
shelter. The estuary itself was the gateway to the vast
comprehensive network of wetlands that once extended
throughout the Canterbury region, with the Ōtākaro (Avon)
and Ōpāwaho (Heathcote River) being the primary access
routes. This name links the school to this significant route
and this significant mahinga kai area (Te Ihutai) which was
traditionally owned and used by Kaiapoi Ngāi Tahu (Ngāi
Tūāhuriri) and this relationship is acknowledged as part of the
Claims Settlement Act 1998. The major waterways Ōtākaro and
Ōpāwaho flow into Te Ihutai and the school’s catchment zone
includes schools located along these waterways.”
The Board’s intention is that the school changes its name to Te Aratai
for our return to Aldwins Road, 2022. We acknowledge the proud history of
the name Linwood since 1954, the school’s opening. 2022, and our complete
school rebuild, is the opportunity to create a school name and identity that is
open and inclusive to our wider community we serve and is not just based on
the actual location of the school. And, in a deep irony, Linwood High School-
Linwood College has never actually been in Linwood. Our Aldwins Road site is
actually in Phillipstown.
More information about the name and the legal process for changing a school
name will be forthcoming. We are very grateful to Te Ngāi Tūāhuriri Rūnanga
for their gift to our whānau, to our community of this beautiful and appropriate
name -Te Aratai.
Ngā mihi nui -
Richard Edmundson Tumuaki-Principal
The Turning of the Sod
On Wednesday the 5th of August Linwood College at Ōtākaro
commemorated a milestone in the rebuild process.
It was a particularly brisk but clear Canterbury morning for this important
ceremony. Representing the school were LCŌ’s Head Students Mario
Cvetkoski and Paigan-Lilly Hall as weall as the Watson-Hall whānau,
a family whose tamariki span right through the school’s year levels,
from Year 7 to Year 13.
LCŌ were honoured to have Ngāi Tūāhuriri and Ngāti Wheke
present. Also in attendance were the Ministry of Education, the
Board of Trustees, the rebuild architects from Architectus, the project
management firm RDT Pacific, Southbase Construction and various
school staff.
The event began on Aldwins Road where everyone was greeted by
Corban Te Aika, Ngāi Tūāhuriri, who led everyone onto the site and
blessed the land with karakia. The official sod was dug by our head
students and has been retained for reinstating in the official opening.
The ceremonies ended with the sharing of kai and kōrero.
P: 03-982-0100 E: office@linwoodcollege.school.nz www.linwoodcollege.school.nz