On Thursday June 18, our school kapa haka headed to Hornby High School to support our three speakers who were entered to speak in the Manu Kōrero regional Māori speech competitions.

With an 8.00 a.m early pōwhiri start and a 9.00p.m finish after prizegiving it was a very long day. However, it was also a day where we got to see the best young Māori orators from throughout Canterbury. It was a day filled with beautiful speeches, waiata, haka, culture and whanaungatanga.

I was very proud of our three students who stood with mana and grace. There were many tears from family members who were both proud of their daughters but touched by the content of the speeches which were all about whānau, language and culture.

Stella Crossan in the Junior English section spoke about the journey her family was undertaking to restore the Māori language within the whānau. Elise Walker in the Senior English section acknowledged all of her family members in the most eloquent way by comparing them to a kapa haka group singing a choral. Issy Heslop in the Junior Māori section, spoke of the rich learning that occurred outside of the classroom and used her experiences on the marae as an example.

All of the girls placed well but our particular congratulations to Elise for initially placing third in the prepared section but losing marks for speaking over time and finally placing 5th.

Our kapa haka group sang beautifully on the day but most importantly they displayed all of our school values in every moment of the day. Their support and awhi of our speakers was outstanding.

Thanks must be given to the families of our speakers who supported them to represent our school at these auspicious competitions. Thank you also to all the staff who provided support in many ways. We are very grateful also to Kahuiti Huia for coming into school to help Elise prepare and to Amiria Tikao for working with Stella.

He waka eke noa, he ngaru ka whati.

Adrienne Huia

HOD Māori / Kaiārahi Māori