E Tū Tāngata Family Charter

In our home, we believe that every person is valuable...

A family charter is a document which sets down the basic principles you wish to live by in your family.

Working together to establish a family charter can help you see what you want your family to become and what values you hold as a whānau.

You could hold a family meeting to plan your charter. It might be nice to get some special food to make it more of an occasion. Try and do it at a time of day where everyone is rested and ready to contribute sensibly.

As you hold your meeting make sure to listen to everyone’s ideas, and make sure everyone feels valued.

Some questions you might like to ask could be:

• What do we want the atmosphere in our home to be like?
• How do we want to feel when we are at home?
• How will we celebrate successes?
• How will we support one another in hard times?
• How will we ensure every member of the family feels valued?
• How will we ensure every member of the family feels a sense of belonging?
• How will we work to resolve conflict when we don’t get along?

When you have discussed this you can hone it down into a memorable statement. It should be simple enough to remember, so that you can use the language in daily life, and reinforce the values you have decided on.

An easy example might be something like this:

Our Family Charter

In our family, we believe Every Person is Valuable, We Succeed Together and Others Matter. In our family we want to feel: loved, supported, safe, understood and empowered to do our best.
In order to feel that way we will: use uplifting language, listen carefully to one another, encourage one another and show our love with words and actions.
If there is a conflict, we will: listen to all points of view, apologise where we have been wrong, take the time to restore good relationships.

When you have decided on your charter, you can use one of our editable images to make it look flash, and display it on your wall.

Next Steps

Why not display one of our Kōrero with the Whānau conversation posters in your living space, so you can be prompted to have conversations about this frequently?

Kōrero with the Whānau