‘Hoki ki tōu maunga kia purea ai koe ki ngā hau o Tāwhirimātea’ (Return to your mountain to be cleansed by the winds of Tāwhirimātea)

This term’s focus has been around rangatiratanga. We looked at this in the context of pepeha and mihimihi. Pepeha tells a story of the places and people you are connected to.

In Kōmanawa, we have created waka, presented our pepeha through visual art, learned waiata from different iwi, designing a mural for our wall, visiting local areas to learn about the stories and places of our ancestors.

Kura kura

kura winiwini

kura wanawana

te whai atu i taku kura nei

In Tairea and Te Waka Huruhuru Te hōtaka tuhituhi māhorahora (the free writing programme) is a writing programme designed to help students develop their own personal writing voice. The programme is made up of three main components: 

• Te wā mō te tuhituhi māhorahora – a daily 10 minute free writing time.

• Te wā whakaako i te tuhituhi – a weekly ‘teaching the art of writing’ session.

• Te wā waihanga i te tuhinga māhorahora – a two-week period once a term that is devoted to crafting pieces of free writing.

During ‘te wā mō te tuhituhi māhorahora’, there is no prescribed set of topics to write about, nor is the writing confined by rules and writing structures. Rather, all writers are free to express their individual identity through writing in any way they wish about any topic they choose. Sometimes writers may be writing intently on a topic they have already thought about. At other times, they may be quietly capturing thoughts as they float by, or they may be recalling and writing down thoughts about moments and people in their lives. ‘Tuhinga māhorahora’ books are like blank canvases, waiting to be painted on by the authors in our classrooms.

In Kōmanawa, we aim to write 3-4 times a week. We have been doing this over the past year and it has been amazing and a privilege to see our ākonga turn into debaters, poets, songwriters and authors.

Pūoro/Music with Matua Antonio. Learning story

Give it a go learning story link Give it a go! Karawhiua!

Rākaihautūtanga Block 3

Rākaihautū was a great explorer. He lit the fires of occupation on this island. With his kō he carved out the lakes and rivers in Te Wai Pounamu. He was a leader, and a great explorer.

Rākaihautū shaped our world just as we encourage our tamariki to take up their kō and confidently carve out new worlds for themselves and their learning during Rākaihatūtanga.

We offer workshops and times for Pakirehua (Inquiry) for our ākonga to explore like the Waitaha tipua ‘Rakaihautū’).