Te Whare Tapa Whā — Personal Wellbeing Self-Assessment
He Aromatawai Hauora Whaiaro · Reflecting on balance across the four pou · Years 7–10
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga · Learning Intentions
- Understand the four pou of Te Whare Tapa Whā and what each dimension encompasses in real life.
- Honestly assess current wellbeing across all four dimensions using reflective prompts and a rating scale.
- Identify which pou needs the most attention right now and why.
- Set one specific, realistic intention for strengthening a pou over the coming weeks.
Paearu Angitu · Success Criteria
- Assessment addresses all four pou with honest, specific reflection — not just 1–2 words per section.
- Students can explain how two pou are interconnected using a personal example.
- At least one pou receives a specific, realistic strengthening intention (not vague goals like "be healthier").
- Students can connect Te Whare Tapa Whā to their own cultural or community context.
Ko Te Whare Tapa Whā · About the Framework
Te Whare Tapa Whā was developed by Sir Mason Durie in 1984. The image of the whare (house) is deliberate: just as a house needs four strong walls to stand, a person needs strength across all four dimensions of hauora. If one wall is weakened, the whole structure is at risk.
Physical health and growth
Mental and emotional wellbeing
Social wellbeing and relationships
Spiritual wellbeing and purpose
Before you start — how this is used
This sheet is yours. You are not handing it in, and no one is marking it. Your kaiako will not read your ratings or your evidence lines unless you choose to show them.
You can do this two ways, and both are equally valid:
- About yourself — if you want to, and only as much as you want to.
- About a character — a person from a text you are studying, someone in a film, or an invented ākonga. You will learn the model just as well, and this route is a normal choice, not a lesser one.
Write only what you are comfortable writing down. Leave anything blank. "I would rather not answer" is a complete answer.
If anything here worries you, talk to a kaiako, your whānau, or someone you trust. You can also free-text 1737 any time to talk to a trained counsellor, or phone 111 if someone is in immediate danger.
🪶 Kaiako: taha wairua and taha whānau in particular can surface things a young person has not chosen to share. Do not collect these sheets, do not display them, and do not require the personal route. Offer the character route out loud before handing them out, so choosing it is not visible as an opt-out.
Taha Tinana · Physical Wellbeing
Reflect on your physical health: movement, sleep, kai, energy, growth.
1. What physical activities support my wellbeing right now?
2. What does my sleep / kai / energy look like this week?
3. What is one thing my tinana needs more of right now?
Rating (circle one): 1 2 3 4 5 (1 = needs a lot of care · 5 = feeling strong)
Evidence for my rating:
Taha Hinengaro · Mental & Emotional Wellbeing
Reflect on your mental and emotional health: mood, self-talk, coping, expression.
1. How would I describe my mood across the past week?
2. How well am I managing challenging thoughts or feelings?
3. What supports my hinengaro most? (e.g. exercise, journalling, music, talk)
Rating (circle one): 1 2 3 4 5
Evidence for my rating:
Taha Whānau · Social Wellbeing
Reflect on your relationships and sense of belonging: whānau, friends, community.
1. Who are the people who make me feel safe and connected?
2. How connected have I been to my whānau / friends this week?
3. Is there a relationship I need to give more attention to?
Rating (circle one): 1 2 3 4 5
Evidence for my rating:
Taha Wairua · Spiritual Wellbeing
Reflect on your sense of purpose, meaning, culture, and connection to something beyond yourself.
1. What gives my life meaning and sense of purpose right now?
2. How connected do I feel to my culture, faith, or community values?
3. When do I feel most like myself? What activities or places connect me to that?
Rating (circle one): 1 2 3 4 5
Evidence for my rating:
He Hononga Pou · Pou Interconnection Reflection
The pou are never separate — they affect each other. Give one example from your own life where one pou being low affected another pou.
When my is low, I notice it affects my because:
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
Curriculum alignment for this handout has not yet been verified against the live curriculum statements. A generated placeholder that stood here was removed on 2026-08-29 because it matched no real statement.
Tuhia ōu whakaaro · My Strengthening Intention
Choose the pou that needs the most attention right now. Write one specific, realistic intention — not a vague goal, but something you can actually do in the next two weeks.
The pou I will focus on:
My specific intention (what, when, how often):
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
Te Whare Tapa Whā was developed by Sir Mason Durie in 1984 as an explicit challenge to biomedical models that reduce health to physical wellbeing. The image of the whare (house) is deliberate: just as a house needs four strong walls to stand, a person needs strength across all four pou. If one wall is weakened, the whole structure is at risk. This framework is not merely a metaphor: Durie presented it as a Māori understanding of health that pre-dated the model (Durie, M. (1994). Whaiora: Māori Health Development. Oxford University Press). Using it in school is an act of recognition: Māori knowledge built this model, and all students deserve to learn about wellbeing through it.
Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Resources already provided
- Hauora action plan template — turning your strengthening intention into a concrete action plan
- Taha hinengaro journal — deepening the taha hinengaro reflection
- Regulation plan — practical strategies for managing what you identify here
- Whānau conversation card — sharing your assessment with whānau