News & Events

Tena Koutou

Nicki Morrison and Sarah De Heer would like to extend a huge thank you to those 11-12 members of the Tauranga Deaf Community who attended the strategic plan consultation session on Friday, 13 June. We acknowledge the small (but growing) strong sense of community here and how you want to increase your connection with Deaf education and parents in the wider Bay of Plenty region. We received a warm welcome, which was greatly appreciated.

With our key engagement principles of whakawhanaungatanga, allyship, community, transparency and learning, it was heartening to see that the connections have been strengthened through this face-to-face hui. We are committed to continuing to build on these connections. In the spirit of learning, we used this opportunity to listen to all suggestions.

Some of the key themes that came out were (this is not the whole list):

• Smaller, local regions need more representation in the strategic plan – they don’t see themselves in this
• More NZSL resources on Turi TV and the website and ensure these are promoted to all schools in NZ
• Bringing in the community to help with NZSL modelling and identity – create a database of local Deaf role models
• Regular connections with leaders of Ko Taku Reo and the local community
• Deaf leadership in regions is a priority
• Use of NZSL in the Outreach School by all who can use NZSL to promote this for all Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children
• A database of where DHH students are so that the community can support them at a local level
• Return of the Board of Trustees
• More connections with the Deaf community and parents – Ko Taku Reo are vital in helping this partnership
• Where to find updates and how to share with you our thoughts and ideas

Some things that can be shared from Ko Taku Reo:

1. The Ministry of Education employs Advisors of Deaf Children (AoDC). They operate under their own framework and work separately from Ko Taku Reo Deaf Education NZ. They are the only registered Early Intervention Provider for DHH children in Aotearoa. Ko Taku Reo offers Early Education services for children from the age of three who are referred by AoDC. A summary of the information available on the Ministry website can be found here.
2. Our website is updated with the latest information, and news events can be found here. If you require more information or have a question, please use the contact information on the website. It will be answered as soon as possible during school terms. Our website also outlines the services that we offer. We would be more than happy to come back for another meeting to discuss these further with you.

We look forward to connecting again this year with feedback from all areas of Aotearoa, including online surveys, student and staff voice, and how this informs the next version of our strategic plan for 2026 – 2028.

Nga mihi nui,

Nicki and Sarah