Te Wiki o te Reo Māori

In Week 8 this term, St Joseph’s School, Papanui was excited to celebrate Te Wiki o te reo Māori.

Each day there was a special phrase or kīwaha to learn. This was written all over the playground in chalk to help kaiako and ākonga to remember to use it and feedback from kaiako suggested this was really helpful!

Kaiako had prepared special lessons for ākonga to learn new reo Māori during the week, and karakia and waiata were practised with extra focus. At lunchtime, tamariki could learn to play Poi Rākau, and in the library, some children played Tākaro.

On Friday, I spent playtime and lunchtime in the playground, and anyone who came to speak to me in te reo Māori had their name entered in a competition. After lunch, names were drawn out and prizes like stickers, bookmarks and pencils were given to the winners.

Te Wiki o te Reo Māori provides a great boost to our use of the language, the challenge now is to keep it up all year. Kia kaha te Reo Māori!