On Wednesday, the school unveiled its new waharoa (gateway), which now sits outside the school office.
Principal Rodney McLellan said the structure gave Māori pupils a visual connection to their heritage they could see every day.
It began four years ago, when "tamariki at the time were looking for a visual representation of their culture at our school".
The project took longer than anticipated, but "nobody anticipated a worldwide pandemic".
Artist Al Bell designed the waharoa and helped unveil it.
He said the right side represented the academic studies of the school and the left the sports.
Fenwick School was formed by the amalgamation of Oamaru South School and Awamoa School in 2001.
The waharoa represented that history, as well as the history of the land, with aspects inspired by Awamoa Creek and Cape Wanbrow.
Typically waharoa were caved from wood, but this one was cut from steel.
That both made it cheaper and future-proofed it, he said.
Mr Bell began his teaching career at Oamaru South School in 1981.
