In term 2 and 3, the senior art group (Mila, Lilly, Lani and Georgia of HB34/35 lead by Sarah our TA) along with other talented students have been painting an elephant called Whakaorangia Te Whenua as part of the Otatahu Elephant Trail. 

We chose the name because it’s meaning is Save the Land.

There are 30 primary schools taking part in the trail. Elephants have been painted and decorated and will be on display in the Christchurch CBD over summer.

Whakaorangia Te Whenua is a statue of Elmer the Elephant from the children’s storey book Elmer by David McKee. The Elmer story has many different meanings but the biggest is that you are unique and don’t have to fit in.

To choose our design and meaning we had the school vote between a climate change or superhero design. The school chose the climate change design. It is an earthy design with one side alive and thriving but the other crinkled and dead. This represents the story of climate change and the urgency to fight against it. This is our message to our school.

Our statue will return to school following the trail and take his place beside our CV penguin. They have matching red band gum boots and stand strong together on our school values. 

Make sure to check him out over the summer and spot him on the trail.