Kua tino pā te ahi ki te hapori whānui o Taupō, ā, ko Wahine Murch tētahi tauira o mua, ā, he kaikaunihera ia ināianei hei tāna he nui te pōuri o tana hapori.
“Tēnei o ngā kura, he kura i pupuri ake i ngā tauira Māori i ngā mokopuna Māori o te rohe nei anō hoki ngā memories me kī, ngā memories ki roto i te whare i tahuna i te ahi,” he ai ki a Wahine Murch.
“Tērā whare, te whare i ako mātou i te pāngarau, i ako hoki mātou i ngā social studies, i ako hoki i te kaupapa geography,” hei tā Wahine anō.
I te ahiahi o te Rātapu ka pakarū mai te ahi me te auahi ki ngā akomanga kei te poraka o Nelson mea rawa ake ka tae atu ko ngā ratonga whawhati ohotata me ngā taraka tīnei ahi ki te poko i te ahi.
“Kei te mōhio mātou i te pūrākau o Mahuika me tana matimati, and so just more, more talking to and education of the dangers of that and just want to reiterate that we are so lucky that this happened outside of school hours.”
13-year-old Paora Wickliffe was looking forward to starting Taupō-nui-a-Tia College today but because of the devastating fire yesterday his college site will remain closed over the next few days.
“Kinda bummed, cause I was supposed to meet one of the teachers in their offices,” says Paora. “I actually wanna see what I’ll be doing for school,” he says.
Students are encouraged to check their emails and Google Classrooms for their online learning programmes (from tomorrow, Tuesday). An email has just been sent to parents/caregivers with more detailed information for learners.
Youths charged with arson after devastating fire destroys Taupō College block
Senior Constable Barry Shepherd acknowledged the depth of the loss while offering some reassurance about the rest of the campus.
“Fortunately, it hasn’t damaged too much of the rest of the school, as you can see the Marae out here by the street is not affected the admins block, and the newest building and the other one on the other side as well as the playground they’re algood.”
However, he conceded the impact on the wider Taupō community is immense. “The community will be pretty upset about the Kura going up in smoke, right? and it’s sad, people will be asking why?, why the destruction?, and it’ll be hard to understand won’t it.” He described the incident as a “tragedy,” adding, “It will affect a lot of people, it’s just not fair that a school gets burned down.”
Regarding the investigation, Constable Shepherd confirmed police were making progress. “As you can imagine there’ll be lots of questions about, where, how, when, thankfully, there’s a lot of CCTV footage that can help us.”
Two youths have been identified and charged with arson and will appear in the Taupō Youth Court in the coming days.