Kapa Haka - Year 4, 5 & 6, 2025

It has been incredible to see the passion our tamariki show towards Kapa Haka. Making it through to Nationals has definitely excited our tamariki and there is huge enthusiasm to get into Ngā Pou o Tararua (competitive team) to be part of the rōpū going to Tauranga in November. 

At the moment (and up until Week 8), all Year 4, 5 & 6 tamariki are practising together. We currently have approximately 100 children in this rōpū. In Week 8, the group will be split into Ngā Pou o Tararua and Ngā Pua o Tararua. 

Ngā Pua o Tararua is our whakangahau (non-competitive) group. Ngā Pua o Tararua will practise with Matua Tawaroa and Whaea Hera on a Tuesday afternoon.

Ngā Pou o Tararua is our whakataetae (competitive) group. This is the group that will be competing at Te Mana Kuratahi (National Kapa Haka competition) in November. This is an exciting opportunity for us to showcase our kura and to work really hard to reach our vision: Whaia Kia Tutuki (strive to your potential). With Te Mana Kuratahi being a competition, there are lots of rules that we need to follow. The biggest of these right now is that there is only space for 40 performers on stage. When the group splits in Week 8, Matua Tawaroa and Whaea Hera will be choosing up to  50 tamariki. This group will reduce in number again by the end of May - it is our aim to travel with 40 performers and 4 reserves.

The whakataetae rōpū will be for tamariki who not only show commitment and excellence to Kapa Haka, but also spend time practising at home. These children also need to have outstanding behaviour at school and at home. 

There will be some tamariki who do all of the above, but still don’t make it in the whakataetae rōpū. Please do prepare your child for this possibility.

There will be up to 6 weekend practices. We will get these dates to you as soon as possible - these practices are compulsory. 

I want to acknowledge that the commitment to get to Te Mana Kuratahi is huge! We need tamariki (and whānau) who are willing to put their all into this campaign. The time commitment alone is big - and we need this to be the first priority (over sport and other commitments). We will also require you as a whānau to commit to supporting our fundraising efforts. It is our desire to raise enough funds so that we don’t need to put a cost for individual whānau for their child to attend Te Mana Kuratahi. We will most likely hold our first hui in Week 9 or 10 to get this underway.

If you know that your child is not interested or not able to commit to being in the whakataetae group, please let Whaea Mahi (mselbylaw@centralnormal.school.nz ) or Whaea Hine (hrokosuka@centralnormal.school.nz) know ASAP. 

If you have any pātai, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Ngā mihi nui

Whaea Elly

Tumuaki