Aquinas Year 7 and 8 students enjoyed an off-site history lesson this month to bring to life their study of Tauranga’s first settlers and Catholic missionaries. Each class spent a day visiting The Elms, one of New Zealand’s oldest heritage sites and a place of early contact between Māori and Pākehā.

The Elms Te Papa Tauranga was the landing place of ancestral waka, home to a thriving Maori community and later Tauranga’s first mission station. The students’ visit included The Elms’ new whare, Tāne-nui-a-Rangi, which has carvings illustrating the links between Māori and Pākehā. Students learned about the Treaty of Waitangi and the activities that took place on the Mission grounds.

The visit was the culmination of students’ joint RE, Literacy and Social Studies study of the area’s first settlers and missionaries.