Immersion+Slides

Māori immersion schools were set up predominately for revitalisation purposes. Research discovered that between the 1930s and the 1960s, the number of Māori who could speak Māori had dropped from 96.6% to only 26%. [1] This research led to fears that Māori would become a “dead” language unless efforts were made to revive the language and encourage the people to speak Māori again. Schooling provided mainly in Te Reo Māori was seen as one answer to the problem. Te Reo Māori is spoken by both teacher and pupils at Kura Kaupapa. The lesson content is also delivered in Te Reo Māori.
 * Why Started: **

There are currently four levels of immersion based on the level of teaching (in Māori). Level 1: Between 81% and 100% of all teaching is in Māori. Level 2: Between 51% and 80% of teaching is in Māori. Level 3: Between 31% and 50% of teaching is in Māori. Level 4: Between 12% and 30% of teaching is in Māori. These levels are used by the Ministry of Education for allocating funding to immersion programmes – the higher the level of immersion, the higher the funding. It is up to the Kura (School) itself to decide what level they are going to be teaching at. All Kura Kaupapa schools are assessed along with non-immersion schools. This helps maintain their level of immersion and guides the funding available for them.
 * Levels of Immersion: **

Types of Kura Kaupapa:
**Kohanga Reo: ** is an early childhood education centre where children are totally immersed in Māori language and tikanga (culture) from birth through to the age of six. The only language spoken at Kohanga Reo is Maori. === Kura Tuatahi (Primary schools):  Only children who turn 5 years old are eligible to be enrolled in these schools and the age of children ranges from 5 years old to 13 years old. Most of the children who enrol in Kura Tuatahi (Primary school) enrol at a Kura after turning 5 and graduating from a Kohanga Reo. ===
 * Kura Arongatahi:** Teach from Years 1 to Years 15. The age of children ranges from 5 years old to 18 years old, although in New Zealand the compulsory leaving age is 16. Students enrolled from Year 11 to Year 13 undertake NCEA. However, the school must be an accredited provider with the NZQA.

Wharekura (Secondary schools): Teach students from Years 9 to Years 15. All of these Kura are composite schools (known also as Area schools).
=== Kura Tuakana (Mentoring schools): Are selected Kura Kaupapa schools that offer support through funding and staffing to Kura Teina. In order to do this, Kura Tuakana must be able to demonstrate their ability to mentor Kura Teina. === === Kura Teina (Mentored schools)  : The Kura Teina operates and teaches children, either at the primary school year levels (Years 1 to 8) or at the Wharekura school year levels (Years 9 - 15) or sometimes at primary and Wharekura school year levels. They are mentored by the Kura Tuakana. === Te Aho Matua o nga Kura Kaupapa Maori are the principles that all Kura Kaupapa Maori (including Kura Teina and Kura Tuakana) are required to adhere to. The principles are underpinned by Maori values, beliefs and customs. Te Aho Matua has six sections: (note: I could not find figures for money spent in past year which i would have liked...) Kura Kaupapa Maori receive additional funding from the New Zealand Government to help them develop and maintain their Te Reo Maori immersion environment. An immersion levelling system (See above) is the mechanism used to calculate the funding. An additional salary allowance (MITA - Maori Immersion Teacher allowance) is also paid to fulltime teachers who teach at Level 1.
 * Philosophy **
 * 1) ** Te Ira Tangata ** (the human essence), affirms the nature of the child as a human being with spiritual, physical and emotional requirements
 * 2) ** Te Reo ** (language), deals with language policy and how the schools can 'best advance the language learning of their children'
 * 3) ** Ngā Iwi ** (people), focuses on 'the social agencies which influence the development of children, in short, all those people with whom they interact as they make sense of their world and find their rightful place within it'
 * 4) ** Te Ao ** (the world), deals with 'the world which surrounds children and about which there are fundamental truths which affect their lives'
 * 5) ** Ahuatanga Ako ** (circumstances of learning), 'provides for every aspect of learning which the whānau feel is important for their children, as well as the requirements of the national curriculum'
 * 6) ** Ngā **** Tino Uaratanga ** (essential values), 'focuses on what the outcome might be for children who graduate from Kura Kaupapa Māori' and 'defines the characteristics which Kura Kaupapa Māori aim to develop in their children'. [8]
 * Funding of Immersion schools. **
 * Achievement of Māori between immersion and Bilingual schools: ** ****[2]**** (note: follow link below to see graphs...)
 * Candidates in immersion and bilingual schools are performing well under the new qualifications system. In both 2003 and 2004, candidates at immersion and bilingual schools were more likely to gain a National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) than Māori candidates in English medium schools.
 * Candidates at immersion and bilingual schools appear to have strong literacy skills. Year 11 candidates in these schools are very successful at gaining literacy credits in both Te Reo Māori and in English.
 * Year 11 candidates at bilingual schools did very well in meeting the literacy and numeracy requirements of NCEA level 1. They were more likely to meet these requirements than both Māori and non-Māori in English medium schools.
 * <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">An area of concern is the low achievement in the science learning area. In general, almost all Year 11 candidates who gain a qualification gain some science credits. However, around half of the Year 11 candidates at immersion and bilingual schools who gained an NCEA gained no science credits.

[1] [] [2] http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/series/11240/maori_immersion_2004