This week we had all our Year 10 students attend our annual Puketeraki Mārae experience at Karitāne. Students from 10Wd, 10Trk and 10Mgw visited on Monday and the students from 10Ch, 10Cn and 10Bth visited on Tuesday.

Once we had arrived at Karitāne in the morning we were formally welcomed with a pōwhiri onto the Mārae. The students were able to sing our waiata which we had been busy practising at school in the lead up to the trip. After our formal welcome we were able to participate in many learning activities helped by the various tutors such as flax-weaving, oral storytelling by a kaumātua as well as traditional games. We also enjoyed a hikoi to the Huriawa Pā site where we learned about the past actions and listened to stories of both Kāi Tahu and European people by the educator Matua Kane Holmes.

The trip is a culturally enriching one and many students commented how beautiful it was to be on the marae and how interesting it is to learn about the people and natural environment of Karitāne . We are very grateful to all the tutors and teachers and would like to thank them as well as the people of Puketeraki Mārae for making us feel so welcome.