Ko te kaupapa tonu, ko te whakatupu i te mahara o te hirikapo kia tiu ai ki te muri, arā, kia puta he whakaaro i pokepokengia nō roto tonu i ngā whakahekenga kāwai o ngā tūpuna o te tamaiti, kua maranga te wā e kaumātua haere ana te tamaiti, ngōna kanohi kua huaki, ngōna taringa kua pīkari, ngā whakaaro kua korikori, tōna wairua hīkaka kua ngawhā, ngērā kaupapa katoa o te tamaiti i taua wā o te tupu. Mā tēnei kōrero hoki hei kawe te taonga o te rongo hirikapo, arā, ngā whakaaro, ngā mahara, nāna ko te waha, nā te waha ko te kupu kōrero e makere iho ai i te ārero tarapepe. Heoi anō he tohutohu anō kei roto e kī ana, manaakingia ngā kai o te hirikapo o te tamaiti, he taonga. Ki te kore e tika te manaakingia e ngā mātua, tērā te wā ka ātitirauhea i te puāwaitanga o te rau. Ngērā kaupapa katoa. (Haki Tuaupiki, 2013) This project grew out of the desire of a kōhanga and a kura—Te Kōhanga Reo o Ngā Kuaka and Tōku Māpihi Maurea Kura Kaupapa Māori respectively—to enhance transitions between their two sites for tamariki and whānau. Although visits to Tōku Māpihi Maurea before beginning at the kura were available for Ngā Kuaka tamariki on acceptance for enrolment, the instigators of this project believed a more formal transition programme would be beneficial to tamariki and their whānau. The kōhanga and kura were interested in tamariki and whānau experiencing a more effective transition across the two environments and the learning and curriculum in those respective sites. The kōhanga and kura approached researchers at the University of Waikato Te Kura Toi Tangata Faculty of Education with the research question below and together we developed the proposal. From the outset the project was collaborative, cross-sector, and involved researchers from the kōhanga, the kura and the university.