Bringing Te Kura o Mōkihi Spreydon School’s long history to their new home

We helped the school community embrace their new home with unique designs for their learning hub windows drawing inspiration from their cultural history. Each learning hub was given a name based on the different parts of the raft – from their school’s given name Te Kura o Mōkihi. Mōkihi rafts were used on waterways including the Heathcote river, a branch of which boarded Spreydon’s original site. They were made of harakeke or of raupō and lashed together using harakeke.

It wasn’t until 2020 with the re-roofing of their school hall when the school was able to officially celebrate their move with a ceremony. MP Megan Woods officially opened the hall and the occasion has been marked with a plaque.

The school wanted to remember their original Halswell Road site which was very special to them and keep that heritage visible to the community at their new Hoon Hay Road site. They also wanted future generations of students to understand the meaning of the learning hub names; raupō, muka, harakeke, pūhara and pītau. Spreydon engaged us to produce a timeline that encompassed the history, the move to the new site and their cultural connections. We used booklets from their diamond jubilee and centennial celebrations to gather key dates, stories and images which we then wove into a timeline. We also included the cultural connections to show the meaning behind the learning hubs.

The Principal, Board of Trustees, Teachers and importantly the students love the timeline and enjoy seeing the history of their special school.