The finalised Vision

The final steps of the journey...

The final editing of the logo image and catchphrase took into account the consultation we have undertaken over the past  nine months or so with the different groups of our school community. From parents, to students, to staff, to cultural considerations and to our learning philosophy, we have worked hard to finalise an image and 'catchphrase' that draws elements from all of these perspectives. 

​From the connection to the very name of our school, to the physical elements that surround our place, and how we are working to frame the learning environment for our children, we believe we have found a strong and powerful image and metaphor that will carry our school strongly into the future.

Our proposed logo draws on a number of elements. The three shapes represent our people, our land, and our place. ‘Our people’ is represented by the swoosh entering the reversed out koru (cooler blue – not yet warmed/changed by the warmer water – the school).
The reversed out koru  is composed of ‘our land’ (symbolized by Mt Tauhara in green) and ‘our place’ (symbolized by the scorching waters). Together they form the koru shape – acknowledging the importance of both. The swoosh entering the koru also symbolizes the pathway.

​The three shapes also link ‘loosely’ with the Maori proverb:
He aha te mea nui o te ao - What is the most important thing in the world?
He tangata, he tangata, he tangata - It is the people, it is the people, it is the people

The name of our school is closely associated with the name of our local area, and needs to be representative of both this and of the carving that stands beside our actual school sign. By giving respect to these elements through the use of the correct name - ‘Waipāhīhī-a-Tia’  - we again acknowledge the connection to our place, our people and our land. Our name translate to ‘the place of scorching waters’ and along with the carving standing beside it acknowledges Tia, who has both a prominent place in the whakapapa of our whole area, and in the korero of our school (as he was gifted to the school by a whanau to symbolise the kaitiaki or guardianship that the school had provided for their children/grandchildren).

In coming up with the finalised 'catchphrase', we wanted to strongly link the imagery that our school name means around 'scorching water' and the learning that takes place at Waipāhīhī. “Immersed in Learning” is a broad statement to represent the ‘bigger picture’. “Immersed” means involving oneself deeply in a particular activity. In this case, the activity is learning and it’s deep learning. Surface retention of facts and figures that are rote learned in formal transitional learning environments are not enough anymore. To be successful in this century we need to know how to take some knowledge, connect it to new ideas and to take it deeper.

'Immersed in Learning' ties in nicely with our core learning beliefs (Curiosity, Collaboration & Connection) that are then exampled through our key principles and practices that underpin our teaching and learning philosophy.​