Manawa maiea te putanga mai o Matariki. Puanga whakamānawa! On Thursday, the 23rd of June, we had our first-ever whole school Hautapu ceremony, where over 400 of our hapori (community) attended. Our tamariki recited karakia, sang waiata, sent our thoughts to our loved ones who have passed, discussed aspirations for the year ahead and then fed the whetū. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our hapori for coming together to celebrate this auspicious occasion and also to our kaiako, kaimahi, tamariki and the Matariki Organising Committee led by Whaea Kelsi.

Below are a couple of the wonderful emails we received from whānau following the celebration. 

“I just wanted to write a quick note to say thank you for this morning's Matariki Festival. It was the first time I have had the opportunity to be a part of this incredible event and thoroughly enjoyed it. Congratulations to those helped with the organisation and preparation - fabulous job! A special thank you to the woman who provided an excellent explanation of what was happening during the festival and most importantly how it was significant - I felt very included - which was a pleasant surprise given I am a NZ immigrant from Canada. I am so very grateful for the opportunity to participate and left feeling a renewed connection with a very special lost family member. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart”. 

“Ka nui te mihi kia koutou for the very meaningful magical Matariki morning ki tenei ra. I found it very healing and inspirational personally and to see our tama along with his peers experience it, was just magic! Ka nui te mihi kia Whaea Kelsi for being an outstanding kaiārahi for us all throughout the process”.