Wednesday 25 January 2022

Gift of Great Te Arawa Stories website

Rotorua Library is to become the custodian of a Te Arawa stories website that was designed to support e-learning as part of an initiative to improve educational outcomes in the district.

The Great Te Arawa Stories (GTAS) website contains a collection of stories about people, places and events that are applicable to Rotorua and to the people of Te Arawa

It was developed by Ngā Pūmanawa e Waru to introduce learners to Te Arawa stories, in order to encourage user education skills, support enquiry learning and inspire the exploration of existing resources. The longer-term view was to have schools and individual tamariki contribute their own stories, illustrations and video files, making it a true ‘digital storehouse’, which would grow richer over time. An additional goal was to translate some stories into Māori and over time expand Māori language resources.

Ngā Pūmanawa e Waru was a Rotorua district-wide initiative that used best practice e-learning teaching methodologies and collaboration between schools, to transform educational outcomes for learners and whanau across Rotorua schools and kura. The Trust has scaled back its work since 2019 and has been looking for a place where the content would be preserved, developed and shared long- term.

Rotorua Library, as part of Rotorua Lakes Council, was identified as the best custodian of this rich taonga and Te Pūkenga Kōeke o Te Whare Taonga o Te Arawa will take on an advisory role.

Speaking on the decision to offer the website to the library, Ngā Pūmanawa e Waru chairman Leith Comer says the trustees are delighted that the Rotorua Library has agreed to be the custodians of the collection of Great Te Arawa Stories and to allow members of the Rotorua community to access the stories.

“It is particularly important that the schooling fraternity are able to use the stories to give the curriculum an authentic Te Arawa flavour.”

Heritage and Research Lead Abigail Wharne says it will add considerable value to the existing resources within the Don Stafford Room at Te Aka Mauri.

“We’re proud to be ensuring the longevity of this valuable resource. Not only is this an exciting step towards growing our digital assets, it’s also an opportunity to ensure equitable access to Rotorua stories and develop relationships with our community of learners.

“As well as preserving existing stories, the library is looking forward to realising the original vision of Ngā Pūmanawa e Waru: to have schools and individual tamariki contribute their own content.”

The website was formally handed over to Rotorua Lakes Council at a small gathering on Tuesday 25 January. Great Te Arawa Stories will continue to be freely available at www.gtas.nz.