Hilary Asquith – Kawakawa Head Teacher, High School
Over the final weeks of Term 1, Kawakawa ran our 10-day Odyssey in Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka-a-Māui. Time in the Marlborough Sounds has a way of slowing down. Ākonga began to notice things they might otherwise have passed by. Our experiences with Eko Tours, and Lochmara provided firsthand interactions with dolphins travelling alongside us, penguins and seals moving through their own rhythms, and tuatara attempting to warm themselves on a cold, wet day. These moments fostered respect for our privilege as New Zealanders to live in such a unique and beautiful country. Kaitiakitanga began to feel less like a concept we talk about, and more like a relationship we step into and actively foster.
It was not all smooth sailing. The weather tested us, plans changed, and the cancelled overnight camp at Davies Bay was a disappointment. The 96-year-old boat, Tutanekai, breaking down while returning from Blumine Island, was yet another challenge. What stayed with me was how the group responded. There was no panic, just a steady coming together. Our ākonga even helped the Captain to try and repair the boat’s water pump! Kaiako and ākonga listened, adjusted, and supported one another. The school’s extensive planning and preparations for safety-first took effect, and worked extremely well. Captains of both the Tutanekai and the rescue mail-boat commented on how awesome our Kawakawa students were in that situation.
The everyday parts of Odyssey mattered just as much. Cooking together, managing gear, making daily plans, and keeping shared spaces running. These are small things on the surface, but they are where adolescents begin to see themselves as capable and needed. You could see the shift as the days went on. More initiative, more care for others, more awareness that their actions mattered.
And then there are the moments that simply stay with you; jumping off the wharf at night into the phosphorescent Sounds, laughing with a mix of shock and excitement. It’s hard to explain why those moments stick, but they do. Experiences like Odyssey show how powerful the environment itself can be as a teacher. Out there, the bush, the water, and the weather become the “prepared environment,” and the role of adult’s shifts; we guide, support, and create the opportunities, but the real learning comes from being in it. Through that, we start to build a real connection with the place and with each other. If we want young people to take responsibility for caring for Aotearoa in the future, they need opportunities like this to know it, experience it, and feel connected to it. That sense of care grows naturally from shared experience, and it’s what helps shape people who not only understand their environment, but feel responsible for it.
