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PRINCIPALS MESSAGE

Maungaraki School —

Race Against Time

Next Friday we are very excited to be sharing the premiere of our school production 'Race Against Time' with you. This show has been a long time in the creation phase, with many interruptions from COVID over the last while. Unfortunately, due to COVID we have not been able to share 'Race Against Time' in the ideal way, together as a live show. Our solution for this is to share a unique online movie of the show with you. We have attempted to capture the show on film, however we are aware there is nothing quite like being there. 

The team here at school have worked hard to produce an item which showcases the uniqueness of our students talents and New Zealand's history. Race Against Time is the story of time travel, as a group of talented Maungaraki students design a machine to teleport them back to important moments in our history. It is created, written, danced, acted and delivered by your amazing tamariki. 

Each classroom selected and created an item to share a moment in Aotearoa's rich history. Classrooms have spent time dancing, singing, acting and designing items together. This has been an incredible time in our arts programme here at school. It has given students the opportunity to share and develop talents and skills in the area of dance, drama and art. A huge thank you must go out out our wonderful staff here at school. They have rolled with the changes and have found a way for the show to go on and to be excellent. Classrooms have been buzzing with energy and the learning throughout the past two terms. 

Each student involved in The Race Against Time should be extremely proud of their efforts. They have worked together and created something special. We can't wait until next Friday when we get to share these talents with you, we have some absolute stars in our midst.

The show began with a team of our senior students working closely with Mrs Wills to write a script. This team spent time working collaboratively to imagine characters, an enthralling storyline and links to our school and learning contexts. Their work was fantastic and showed off the collaborative writing skill we have here at Maungaraki School. Well done to Lachlan Meehan, Conor Church, Carissa Oliver, Racquel Premraj, Caley Powell and Kelaiah Rahui-Lawton on the writing of our show.

Following the script being written our classrooms looked at our countries timeline. They decided on a time that they were interested in learning about and then went about designing an item to suit this time. Staff were integral at this stage of the process designing items and dances with the children. A special thanks to Corrine who worked closely with staff and classrooms to design and teach dances and items. Ben Young used his musical talents at this time to mix and record classroom songs that complemented the dance and history selected. 

This production really is a testament to the talents of our amazing staff. They have worked above the line to make this show happen. From working on costumes and props to working on dances, they have been brilliant. Special mention to Tim who spent hours building props and backdrops to enhance our show.

Mrs Wills and Mr Schulz worked with our talented team of actors. Our actors were amazing through this process. They took home a large amount of lines to learn as they practiced and practiced to be ready for filming. Our actors are future stars, they were incredible, making the most of each opportunities as they set the screen alight. Congratulations to our teams of actors, you were brilliant. Well done to Casey Hurley, Mia Burt, Arja Newton-Hill, Ruben Taptiklis, Mackenzie Gwerder, Lachlan Meehan, Lachlan Brill, Sophie Papps, Jessica Zhou, Kezia Ferguson, Samantha Rogers, Lucy Papps, Nathan Rodwell and Carlo Dougan.

Classes headed to the Maungaraki Baptist Church to film their items. A huge thank you to Chris and her team at the church for allowing the school to film on site. Without their generosity it would have been very difficult to create our show at all.

With all the items recorded Mr Young edited the final shows together. This was no mean feat, with two shows, 17 items, multiple scenes of acting as well as special effects. Thank you Mr Young, a future in film awaits.

Next up you get to enjoy the show. We will be streaming our production on Vimeo, a secure video streaming service. A link will be sent home next Friday, all you need to do is click on the link and enter your details then the show will be yours to watch over and over :-) There will be a charge of $15 for our online show, this charge goes towards covering the cost of creating the show. We will also share access to a programme describing each item and photos of each class in costume.

What : Race Against Time - Maungaraki Movie Night
When : Friday 3rd December
How : Stream from the comfort of your own home
Who : Maungaraki School whānau
Cost : $15 

Finally, thank you so much for all of your support through this process. We have had a wide range of support from our families, many have been fully involved in assisting classroom items over the year. We are very grateful to be a part of this special community. Thank you!