Te Arawa was an epic journey that took courage, skill and powerful magic to survive.

On the 27th of September, 14 of our exceptional Deaf and Hard of hearing students, along with their Resource Teachers of the Deaf (RTDs), NZSL Tutors, Teacher Aides, Interpreters and parents, met at the Rotorua District Library to learn about the incredible Te Arawa journeys.

We started with a brainstorming activity where we shared what we already knew about early exploration in the Bay of Plenty, followed by a super exciting treasure hunt!

Our primary learning was around the story of Ihenga and when he landed in Maketu. We worked together to sequence the story and retell it in our groups. We also played a fun memory game focused on learning new vocabulary.

Learning how to code the early explorer's journeys was a crowd favourite. We used a giant floor map of the Bay of Plenty to track the movements of the explorers. 

It was so special to have time with our friends from far away, strengthening social connections and community. We had a fabulous time increasing our knowledge and extending our language about our local legends.