Sacred site home to new classrooms at Garin

Buried in the soil beneath one of Garin College’s four new classrooms is the sacred mauri stone that was placed there during a dawn ceremony in 2001 before the school was built.

Now Te Kāhotu Mauri is part of the new Te Mauri Tapu – Religious Education Learning Centre which is part of the school’s expansion to cater for its increasing roll.

Principal John Maguire says the school’s roll has grown every year since it opened its classrooms doors in 2002 and now sits around 645 students, plus international students which takes it to just over its maximum roll of 670. As the only Catholic secondary school in the Top of the South, its students come from a wide geographical area and he says any more growth is limited without approval to increase numbers.

The classrooms were opened last week with an early morning karakia and blessing, followed by a liturgy and blessing from Archbishop Paul Martin of the Archdiocese of Wellington.

John says it is considered a sacred site for the school because of the placing of Te Kāhotu Mauri in the soil in that original dawn ceremony, while the cairn of stones supporting a cross in the courtyard of the new classrooms also has a special meaning for the school.

“Those stones are from all of the first foundation students and staff from their whenua or homes.”

While the sacredness of the site has been maintained in the name of Te Mauri Tapu, he says the connection of Māori and catholic faith is interlinked.

Next on the list is a multi-learning centre which will double as a school hall and John says it is already at the design stage, with construction due to begin in 2026.