One of the new charter schools will start its academic year with a tour of marae in Ngapuhi territory.
The finishing touches are being put to the building for Te Kura Hourua O Whangarei Terenga Paraoa in Whangarei.
Forty-five akonga (students) are enrolled - 17 of them are girls. The target is still 50 pupils in the first year.
Pouwhakahare of the kura Nathan Matthews says the first lesson is for students to connect with their culture.
He says the week-long tour will begin this Sunday, when all the akonga are handed over to the kura by their whanau.
Dr Matthews says the marae visits will set the kaupapa of the school, which is about being Maori and educated.
