Kootuku

Kootuku is known as the white heron detailed on our school crest. 

• Symbolises the whaanau values as we see them: purity and uniqueness
• Also symbolises everything rare and beautiful, which we don’t mind
• Everyone is their own person, as we are unique individuals, but we all come together despite our cultural diversity within the White whaanau
• Birds are known for nurturing their young and guiding them to flight. The elder students of our whaanau in the same way will take the younger students ‘under their wing’ and support them through their high school years, until they too take flight and soar
• Kootuku were seen as a treasure; Maaori used their feathers to adorn the heads of chiefs both in life and death, and the birds have a high regard in maaori mythology
• As the Maaori proverb says ‘we are all as rare as the kootuku’, having this amazing bird representing our whaanau means we take on that high regard and prestige.