The name ‘Otara ‘ was selected originally for the school to keep alive the name of the first school in this area. The name ‘Otara ‘ seems to have been attached to the land lying roughly within the boundaries Tamaki Inlet. It seems to have separated Papatoetoe from Otahuhu.
The first Otara School, after which this school was first named, was commenced in 1856 on the site of the present St John’s Presbyterian Church on the Great South Road near Hunters Corner. The cemetery there is still the Otara Cemetery and until 1907 or 1908 the church was called the Otara Presbyterian Church. When the school was shifted to a new building at the present Papatoetoe Central School on the corner of Great South Road and St George Street in 1884, it was still called the Otara School. The name was not changed to Papatoetoe School until 1889 through the Papatoetoe Road Board was established in 1868. The name Papatoetoe has gradually encroached on the name Otara with the naming of the railway station and with the growth of the borough. This Intermediate School’s name was changed to ‘Papatoetoe’ in 1967 to avoid confusion with the schools in the fast growing new area of Otara.
The word ‘Otara ‘ is made up of ‘O ‘ which means ‘the place of ‘ and ‘Tara ‘ the name of a Chief. The full name is O-Tara Te Irirangi. Tara Te Irirangi [which can be translated ‘Ray made visible in the sky’] was a chief of the Ngati-Tai tribe in the 18th Century. His lands extended from the Tamaki Inlet [then called Wai-o-Taiki] along the coast to the Wairoa River inland to Clevedon [Otau] and back to the end of the Tamaki Inlet.
A descendant of his, a chief also called Tara, was living at Umupuia, [the correct name of Duder’s Beach near Maraetai] in 1840, and helped John Logan Campbell. He was painted by G. F. Angas in 1844.
THE BADGE
The school badge was designed to act as a constant source of inspiration to you and to have its origin in the word ‘tara ‘ the name of the area from which this school has sprung.
THE COLOURS
The colours are red, grey and gold – the red of the puriri, the grey of the tara [tern] and the gold of the kowhai. All three colours are incorporated in the badge.
THE HAWK
The Hawk refers to an incident that occurred about 1725 when Papaka, a chief of Waiuku sought help against his enemy, Toangina, who had slain his father, Tapaue. Papaka visited his kinsmen who lived near the Tamaki Inlet, probably in the Otahuhu-Papatoetoe area and near to where our school stands, as Tamaki means a short stretch of land lying between two harbours, and Papaka’s relations mainly occupied the south shores of the Manukau Harbour. He asked for support, pointing out the greatness of Toangina saying, ‘Toangina is the water, Toangina is the land, Toangina is the man ‘. An old chief replied quietly, ‘Ehara he kahu tau noa. Ka pa tau ko nga kahu pokere o Tamaki’. [No, he is a hawk of no fixed abode, but you and yours are liked the black hawks of Tamaki]. He thus inferred that no one could stand against the people of Tamaki and that Papaka should have confidence in this ability. Papaka successfully attacked Toangina who was slain at Ahikaea on the Waikato River.
The hawk then, reminds us of the ancient history of this area, and for us symbolises courage – the readiness to uphold a right principle with all the steadfastness at our command.
THE MOTTO
The motto ‘Whaka Pokai Tara’ means, literally, Whaka – act like or act as; Pokai – a flock or bad; and Tara – terns. The Maori spoke very often in a poetic way and to honour a group of chiefs he would liken them to graceful terns and would call them ‘pokai tara ‘. ‘Whaka Pokai Tara ’ thus means – Act like a band of chiefs. This is the school’s advice to you. Act as a band of chiefs would act. Act nobly. Don’t behave in a common or mean manner. Let all you do be such that everyone may say. ‘That was well and nobly done; you have behaved like a chief.’
A second lesson can also be learnt from our motto. The word ‘Whaka ‘ can be used to mean ‘Act together’. We are thus exhorted to units and to work together as one band of warriors, to forget in this new land, in which we are still laying the foundations of our nation, that there are any differences of race, colour or religion, and to establish one united people loyal to our school, to our country, and to our Queen and the Commonwealth.
We must act nobly and unselfishly and co-operate to work for the good of all.
THE GREEK LAMP
The Greek Lamp reminds us that we are an institution of learning with the duty of handing on the traditions, customs, loyalties, spiritual values and knowledge of our nation to our young people. We hope that during your stay at this school a lamp may be lighted that will burn brightly in you for the whole of your lives, that you will always keep an open and enquiring mind, and be ever anxious to add to your education and to improve yourselves in every way. The lamp, then, represents the spiritual side of your lives.
THE SUN
Ra is the Sun. When the rays of the sun could be seen in the sky before sunrise the Maori called it ‘tara ‘. This also, has a spiritual significance for us. You are at the beginning of your lives just like the rising sun with all it’s promise of a beautiful day. May this school help you to develop and so order your lives that when you grow up you will fulfil all our hopes for you.
THE MOUNTAIN PEAK
A ‘tara’ is also a mountain peak, and in addition means courage and mettle. This has been incorporated in the badge for two reasons. Firstly, because our first school boundaries are reasonably delineated by a series of volcanic cones –
Mt Richmond, Mt Robertson [Fort Richards] [Sturges Park]
Wiri [Its other name was Manurewa – high-flying kite. A Maori kite escaped from Onehunga in a high wind and was finally caught on this mountain after a long chase].
McLaughlin’s Hill [Matukura]
Otara Mountains, Green Hill [Bessy Bell] – the northern hill.
Otara [Mary Gray] [Smales Mount] – the southern hill.
Secondly, because Smales Mountain, our nearest peak, was formerly called Otara Mountain, and also to remind us that we should never be satisfied with our efforts but should be on our mettle, courageously persevering, and constantly looking upward, endeavouring to reach the pinnacle of our capabilities.
THE TERN
Tara is a name given to sea-birds but especially to the graceful, white-fronted tern [Sterna striata] which is also called the sea-swallow or kahawai bird. The tern is a contrast to the hawk. The hawk represents courage and our willingness to fight hard in a good cause; the tern indicates that we must be gentle, forgiving, helpful and compassionate when it is necessary. You will notice also that the tern is flying upwards towards the summit of the mountain, again reminding us that our path should be very upward.
THE WAVES
These indicate the Otara Inlet and the Tamaki Inlet on the shores of which our school is established. In the old days this narrow area between the Manukau and Waitemata harbours was called ‘Tamaki-makau-rau ‘ which means ‘the narrow piece of land with a hundred lovers ‘. Everyone wanted this beautiful and fertile region where we are so fortunate to live. So much blood was shed by rival tribes to possess Tamaki that by the time European settlement began very few Maoris were left to occupy it.
THE SPIRITUAL AND THE PHYSICAL
While the lamp draws our attention to the spiritual side of our natures and the great need for its continual growth, the sun, the water and the air, in which the tern is flying, keep before us our dependence on these, and the necessity for developing our bodies by good healthy living and physical activity. If minds and bodies are not constantly nourished and exercised they deteriorate. Do not let this happen to you.