On Thursday the 23rd of June, the eve of our Matariki celebrations as a nation, we were privileged to celebrate with Mrs. Parkinson and her cousin, Kitty Brown who have published another book. They are the co-creators of the popular Reo Pepi series. They read to us from their pukapuka, Matariki, which shares some of their whānau Matariki practice and they offered ideas and inspiration for our own Matariki celebrations over the weekend. At this inaugural celebratory assembly, we sang and played games and heard from our young speakers, Aniaka Gill and Maia Epere who performed at the Manu Korero competitions the week before. We were led through some dance and waiata challenges by Wairua Puhou with Trinity Collins beating the inimitable Mr. Trickey although his bravery did not go unnoticed. We also hosted Julie Anderson, the Director of Education Otago Southland at the Ministry of Education of New Zealand and Karyn Fielding our school's Education Advisor from the MOE and they too enjoyed the mirth and the celebrations. We hope you get an opportunity to read or even purchase Kitty and Mrs. Parkinson's book for your own family for next year's celebrations.