Towards the end of last year, we introduced our kapa haka and kura reo ākonga to a waiata which includes the longest place name in the world - 'Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu'. It has 85 letters and is right here in Aotearoa! We set a wero (challenge) for them to be able to say this.

We now have an extra incentive for ākonga to learn this! If they can say this to Miss Matthews or Whaea Sonya, they can earn a special pene rākau which has the longest place name on it for their efforts! A big ka pai to those ākonga who have already earned their pene rākau!

A big reminder to those receiving a pencil to clearly name it and keep it safe as there will be no replacements.

This waiata is very catchy and is a great helping hand to learn it.

Another 'hot tip' for being able to read the name (or any other words in te reo Māori) is to break up the work into little parts by looking for a vowel then a consonant, and breaking the word up there. Like this....!

Tau/ma/ta/wha/ka/ta/ngi/ha/nga/ko/au/au/o/ta/ma/tea/tu/ri/pu/ka/ka/pi/ki/mau/nga/ho/ro/nu/ku/po/kai/whe/nua/ki/ta/na/ta/hu

Marama keke - piece of cake! Some our ākonga make this look very easy!

Karawhiua koutou!

Miss Matthews and Whaea Sonya