Matua Mita Graham, who gave us the name of this publication, explains the meaning behind the title of our weekly newsletter.

He Mātai Whetū can be explained like this:

Whetū is the word for a star, and is sometimes also used for other celestial bodies, such as comets. Stars were observed carefully as they were important indicators of time and particular stars and star clusters were omens of aspects of life, including crop success.

Mātai means to inspect, examine, investigate, scan, observe, or note.

It is connected to the star in our school crest but also Matariki with a Māori world view of looking at the stars to guide and inform, which in our context is the newsletter for our wider community and whānau.