Off the coast of South Taranaki, a group of passionate people have been researching and documenting life on one particular reef, and we were lucky enough to learn about it.

In Term 3, 2022, Taranaki deaf ākonga, their whānau and kaiako reconnected at a Keep In Touch (KIT) Day to participate in Reef Alive, a hands-on exhibition at Puke Ariki Museum to learn about a newly discovered local reef off our coast.

This experience raised our awareness of the importance of marine habitats and how we can continue to be kaitiaki in our sea environment. Our ākonga learnt about various sea creatures, explored the replica boat, used microscopes to view sealife skeletons and thoroughly enjoyed dressing up in the intricate costumes.

After our Museum visit, we celebrated Sadie’s success in the NZ short film ‘Hand in Hand.’ She enthusiastically answered many questions about her role in the film and one parent commented, “The film was emotional; I didn’t know that Deaf weren’t allowed to use NZSL in the past, just like Māori.”

We shared kai outside on the grass, created chalk artwork, played on the playground and increased our knowledge of NZSL with a marine vocabulary card game. It was lovely to watch our tamariki easily engage with one another, ask questions about their technology and rekindle friendships.