By Amanda Durry  July 28, 2009

Ashburton Intermediate School will start te reo Maori lessons this week, fitting in well with Maori Language Week.

The school consulted with parents of Maori pupils last year and from that decided to start weekly classes for pupils.

Principal Gavin Cooper said they were happy to accommodate those parents.

"At this stage we're looking at a small class once a week. It's going to be taken by Bill Kora and is being offered to Maori students first then those involved in the kapa haka group. From there, we're just going to see how it goes.

"It will be language and culture based and looking more in depth at those areas.

"Te reo is one of New Zealand's official languages and we do a variety of things here already like try having the language in our rooms and travelling to a marae in Christchurch for camps.

"We are working on improving what we do around the school because we are a bicultural society and we need to make sure both sides do their bit," he said.

Other than starting the classes, the school will also be adopting more culture around the school, with plans to have more signage using the language and a carving also in the works.