Tū Māia 2024 Journey

Te Atarangi Whiu With Matariki amongst us at this time of year, it's important that I direct my comments firstly to those of you who have completed Tū Māia 2024. Matariki signals change. It's a time to remember the past, but as importantly, how do we then draw on the past to pave our way forward? And so I'm encouraged by you all who have completed Tū Māia this year, that we have more than 300 of you all who have completed Tū Māia and that you are able to navigate change; not just within Oranga Tamariki but I think change within yourselves as you've grown in your Tū Māia journey. So; E mihi kau ana ki a koutou. Kua tū rangatira koutou i te mutunga iho o tēnei kaupapa o Tū Māia i tēnei tau.

So if I think about Tū Māia, Tū Māia started as the vision of our former Chief Executive Tā Wira and his vision was that he would have a culturally capable organisation at Oranga Tamariki. That's how Tū Māia began as his vision and he wanted to work specifically with Te Tauihu o Ngā Wānanga, the three wānanga.

The three wānanga had expertise in matauranga Māori around cultural capability. Their bread and butter, what they're experts in is the delivery of educational learning programs. So this was quite a different opportunity, a unique opportunity for the three wānanga to work collaboratively together on a positive kaupapa, where the positive kaupapa was about how they could influence an organisation like ourselves; [Oranga Tamariki] to create change within Oranga Tamariki for the benefit of mokopuna. He also saw that collectively as the three wānanga they had reach across the country and they also delivered accredited qualifications. So, koinā te orokohanga o tēnei kaupapa o Tū Māia. So we were over oversubscribed in the first year. I think we had just under 900 who put their hands up. We were overwhelmed. We didn’t think that level of demand would be that high.

Renee Delamere

As a acting site manager last year, I definitely was supporting staff to attend and trying to get as many people through without having too much of an impact on the floor. I loved the objectives of how Tū Māia came into be the direction that Tū Māia was wanting to take kaimahi, whether new to the organisation or Māori, non-Māori; I really enjoyed Tū Māia and two years later I'm still an advocate for what Tū Māia can do for us.

Doug Hauraki To begin with, we had to brief a lot of the attendees, so like a hour before and then run through waiata and then try and identify somebody to do a karanga and all that.I think for their own development, it's been a big step because I think they'd hide behind my cloak knowing that I'll be there.

Te Atarangi Whiu People don't want to talk to each other. they don't know anyone. They don't want to put their hands up to do, you know, start a song, let alone do the whaikōrero or the waiata that's in the first noho wānanga. Come the second noho wānanga, which is six or, you know, depending which cohort you are in, either six weeks or five weeks later when you arrive at the gates for the next noho wānanga, people are welcoming each other with open arms and there's lots of chatter and Doug and I are asking who wants to start the waiata people are actually looking at you.

They haven't got their eyes looking at the ground, dodging eye contact with either Doug and I. They have courage because they've arrived, but they don't have the confidence in themselves yet to be able to take on those roles. So over the duration of the program, there are a lot more people who are more willing to put their hands up to start the waiata. Not many who are willing to do the karanga or the whaikōrero but that's OK.

Doug Hauraki

The number of our staff that now stand up and respond to the whakatau whichever cohort it is. I think for their own development, it's been a big step.

Te Atarangi Whiu What I've really enjoyed about Tū Māia is just seeing the light in people's eyes come alive around this kaupapa. The mere fact that they've moved from the eyes staring at the ground to within an 18-week period are putting their hands up to volunteer to do something. I think that's significant change.

Doug Hauraki

It's a big developmental kaupapa beyond the prescript for Tū Māia.

Mitch Harding It's an inviting space sort of thing when people are able to be vulnerable. So it doesn't matter if you're here, doesn't matter if you're here, you're treated like a million bucks because at the end of the day, everybody is sort of thing. And for me, bro, it's been awesome. They've been supportive from day dot.

Kate Harrow

So I think when on my cohort of Tū Māia there were there were different kaimahi from across the board, really very different roles different levels from frontline social workers right to, you know, people in higher leadership positions. And it was great because it provided a neutral space to interact with each other and it brought everyone to the same level.

So it felt like a safe space to share kōrero with those people that you, for lack of a better word might feel intimidated by in an office environment.

Phil Grady

There was the odd conversation saying, who's that guy there? I heard it. and they said, oh, he's a DCE. They said, really? Are DCE's allowed to do this kind of thing. So there's some of those discussions as you got to connect with people, you connect with people in terms of who they are rather than what role you have. People talk quite deeply around why they come to work, what drives them. And what that means for me now is that when I'm meeting with groups or individuals or even just seeing people in the lifts, that have been to Tū Māia with me actually just there's quite a different connection and connection as people rather than about what role you have. So I think that was really important, really important.

It meant a lot to me.

Tim Wetherall

I've done quite a few courses before and learnings, but nothing this extensive and so I probably came a bit naively thinking I knew quite a lot. But what's actually opened up is actually there's a lot more for me to learn and so putting aside sort of some biases that I might have or assumptions, it's been really good and actually being open and learning around that.

Renee Delamere

The cohort that I was in was able to really draw out people out of their shell, create relationships and build trust for all of us to be able to come together and have some real hard, honest conversations with each other.

Anita Easton

Im pākeha, I grew up in Christchurch in the 1970s. I went through the school system as it was then, and so many of the things I learnt are things that are now uncomfortable to unlearn.So for me that real appreciation for being pushed to a place that's uncomfortable and that's where growth comes from.

Alma Winiata The neat thing about Tū Māia is what you see you can't unsee, and what you learn, you can't unlearn. And I think Tū Māia does that. It allows people the opportunity to explore Te Ao Māori from a Māori lens, come into our world given we share values that are really important to us. kaupapa tukuiho, our values we share and they begin to understand and see how these kaupapa can be expressed and demonstrated and then they apply that in their work environment as well. It's quite stunning really because we see it in the reflections that they send in you can see the learning take place.

Phil Grady

I was well supported by the team that delivered the program, but actually I think more importantly, I was well supported by my peers. So the people I did Tū Māia with, not only, you know were part of my team and teams actually people really looked after each other both at the marae noho and also afterwards and how we connected. So really important, really well supported.

Te Atarangu Whiu

The significant change has been greater support, greater buy in by senior managers, middle managers across Oranga Tamariki to enable their people to participate.

We've had relatively high retention rates for the program from year one, year two and year three. I think in the first year our retention rate was around 75%. Year two and year three currently we're at around 80 to 83%.

The change in the retention rate or the positive increase in the retention rate from year one through to year two and three is directly attributed to our people being supported by their managers.

Renee Delamere

Those that have been able to attend have really enjoyed it, thoroughly enjoyed it and have also recommended to others to attend. Though there are also those who I have recommended to attend and they haven't been able to attend, they've been declined to attend. And I understand when theirs numbers, but when there are the vacancies etc, you know, let people go.

Yeah, me personally apart of our organisational changes going through Māori centrered practice. And so, I've been quite keen to engage in a course like this to understand further, to see how we can develop our practice with Māori.

Jesse Porter So although I whakapapa Māori, my kind of exploration and learning of that really started when I started working at Oranga Tamariki, and so for me, it was just another really valuable opportunity to continue learning and in particular with this one, I do whakapapa as well to Raukawa ki te Tonga and so I had this opportunity to learn not just all of this amazing history, but like the contemporary work that they were doing, and that was a real privilege for me on a personal level to have that engagement with one of my own iwi.

Te Atarangi Whiu The challenge I think that we have moving forward is how do we maintain that enthusiasm that people demonstrate for change, their own personal change. How do we maintain that once they complete Tū Māia and then how do we create that kind of learning and safe environment that people have had while they've been on Tū Māia in our own workspaces here at Oranga Tamariki across the country.

Doug Hauraki

It's that whole thing about learning waiata, learning karakia, coming together, meeting a whole lot of different people from different walks of life from different business units and I think no organisation in the public sector today can go through still working in silos. Tū Māia has broken alot of those silos.

Te Atarangi Whiu

So, as we look to the past, to then how we navigate into the future, Ko āku kōrero ki a koutou o Te Riu, me tika, me pono o koutou aronga ki tēnei kaupapa o Te Hāpai Ō. Te whakapakari o tō tātou āo Māori i roto hoki i o tātou mahi ki roto o Oranga Tamariki

The challenges is with you our Te Riu colleagues, my Te Riu leaders, to look at how you then navigate the future knowing the importance of culture within our organisation here at Oranga Tamariki