Korowai competition,
Over the course of the last 4 to 5 weeks, whanau classes had to create their own korowai (traditional Māori woven cloak) for the korowai competition on the last Thursday of Term 1. The one rule that was set out was that it needed to be made out of natural materials, and apart from that, whanau classes were free to create their korowai however they desired. This meant that we ended up with six completely unique korowai that all held their own story. All of the mahi that went into the making of the korowai definitely paid off as each and every one looked astounding!
On judging day we ended up with six korowai as most of the whanau classes decided that they would work together as a house to create one combined korowai. Each whanau class/house had to have one person modelling the korowai, and one student to give a brief explanation about their korowai. We were very lucky to have our Mayor Tania Gibson come in and judge this competition! A big thank you goes out to her for giving up her time for us.
First place went to Anahera. Their korowai was introduced by Sarah Manoj and modelled by Mrs Singer. Such a great representation of a traditional korowai. Also the specifically chosen coloured feathers to each represent a different meaning was definitely something special.
Second equal went to Mawhera A and Mawhera B. Mawhera A was introduced by Riya Prasad and modelled by Ms Beach. Their korowai had different types of manu feathers atop of a woken harakeke base. The subtle inclusion of their house colour (yellow) and the use of a piece of driftwood for the tie was a perfect touch. Mawhera B was introduced by Tasja Murphy and modelled by Mr Ching. The evident yellow ribbon represents their whanau and their house, plus the plaited string which are the Māori colours, added to this creative design.
Third place went to Columba. Introduced by Harry Byrne and modelled by Jackson Rowbottom, Jack Rowe and Luke Chamberlain. It had to be modelled by three students as the harakeke base extended around the entirety of three people. The harakeke was beautifully woven and finished off with feathers and toe toe.
We also had two more korowai made by Saints and Marist. Saints was introduced by Anja Schoeman and modelled by Ms Dodemaide. Their hand made black and red feathers really stood out, along with other elements like their woven harakeke, and the unique touch of their tie which represented miniature Māori poi.
Marist, introduced by Jonothan Chapman and modelled by Mr Porter. The creativity of having individually coloured in feathers for the entirety of the korowai, really showed the teamwork and cooperation that went into their creation.
Words cannot express how grateful I am on the turn out and commitment of this competition. I am very thankful for all of the house groups stepping up and taking part in this competition. This took lots of time and effort from my committee members, Mrs Singer and myself, to organise, and to see it all come together, and seeing the whole school cheering each other on and getting excited about the whole thing, really warms my heart. A big thank you to everyone for making this competition possible.
Ngā mihi,
Pyper Murphy.