Room 21 have been learning about Matariki.

The class has been learning about Matariki which is the Māori New Year. Matariki is the Maori name for a group of seven stars known as the Pleiades star cluster. Some people think of Matariki as a mother star with six daughters, and it is often referred to as the Seven Sisters.

Matariki has two meanings, both of which refer to the cluster of stars. Mata Riki means Tiny Eyes, and Mata Ariki means Eyes of God.

Matariki begins to rise in the last few days of May, and this symbolises the coming of the Maori New Year. Some iwi, or tribes, start celebrations when Matariki is first seen, however it is the first new moon after Matariki that officially signals the Maori New Year. Some people celebrate the New Year on the day the new moon rises, and others celebrate on the day after the new moon. This year Matariki started on the 15th of June 2018.

Room 21 wrote acrostic poems about Matariki with Mrs Cleverley and then created stars using the sgraffito art method with Whaea Justine. They cut out stars, coloured them with crayon and painted over the top of them using black paint and then scratched out designs using their pencils.

Check out the photos of their finished products and come into the class and read their poems.