by Mark Pickering

Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori

Last week (Monday 21st - Sunday 27th) was Te Wiki o te Reo Māori - The Māori language week.

During Te Wiki O Te Reo Māori week we had a Te Reo Māori quiz. Each syndicate has a daily question that they could answer and enter the daily prize draw. A winner was picked from the correct entries each day. The Middles and Seniors did the quiz as individuals and the Juniors completed the quiz questions as a class. At the end of the week all the correct answers went into a draw to win some bonus prizes. Thanks to some of the Kapa Haka children who helped out with the quiz throughout the week.

Well done to everyone who won a prize and to everyone who got involved and learnt some new Māori words and terms from the quiz.

Throughout the week there was also lots of learning about Te Reo and Māori culture. Some classes were learning different place names in Te Reo Māori. Some of the classes joined with other classes to learn different Māori songs, structures, and drawings. Other classes were learning about the Māori culture and why we should try and keep the Māori culture alive.

Classes have been using Education Perfect to learn Te Reo language. Education Perfect is a web based programme where we can learn things like greetings, colours, vocabulary and place names.

Five Reasons why we should keep the Māori culture alive:

1. Te Reo Māori is one of New Zealand's official languages.

2. Māori people were the founders of New Zealand.

3. There are people that speak Māori and can't speak other languages.

4. It is a language that people have been speaking for nearly 850 years.

5. If we lose the language we will have no Te Wiki O Te Reo Māori anymore.

By Henry & Leilani