March 01, 2024
Sport draw for revived St Stephen’s
Recruitment for the first intake at the revived St Stephen’s boarding school starts this evening in Kaitaia.
Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Rangi Āniwaniwa board member Keringawai Evans says as a former pupil of its sister school Queen Victoria she’s excited at the opportunity for whanau in Kaitaia to learn what will be on offer when the school opens next year.
She says while kura Māori have sprung up over the past 30 years which offer a quality grounding in academic subjects and Māori culture, many parents may also consider the strong sporting tradition at St Stephen’s.
“For a lot of our kids who are excelling in sports, and we live in Kaitaia, it’s really hard for us to get them on the top teams when we have to drive two hours just to represent Northland because the team may be based in Whangārei for Northland. So that’s always been something for a lot of us as whānau, that have exceptional students who are Māori, who want good academic studies, but are also exceptional at sports,” Ms Evans says.
She hopes a successful reopening of Hātō Tīpene will eventually lead to Queen Victoria being revived.