On the first of July - 2016 I travelled with a group of Shirley Boys’ High School students to Te Iringa o Kahukura - Cashmere High School - alongside our new H.O.D of Te Reo Māori Matua Te Rau Winterburn, the head of I.T Operations Mr Richard McLaren and kaitautoko (supporter) Talei Wawatai. This year the regional Manu Kōrero (Māori speech competition) was held at Cashmere High School, we had four Shirley representative speakers… Manahi Wawatai and Keenan Jarvis were our two senior speakers. As the senior leaders of Māori Culture at Shirley, they set the bar very high for the younger Māori students that follow in the footsteps of these two Manukura.

Manahi spoke in the “Pei Te Hurinui” section which is the Senior Māori speech competition. Keenan spoke in the “Korimako” section which is the Senior English competition. Both Manahi and Keenan were both required to stand and deliver an impromptu speech which they were given their topic only 5 minutes before they were asked to stand. Manahi stood first and provided a very impressive impromptu speech in Māori which was filled with very good points and ideas relating to the health of the Māori Language, followed by Keenan who gifted the crowd with a hilarious speech that sent the audience into hysterics and tears of laughter - this was very much a highlight for me.

Devantē Wawatai and Tāne Edwin-Sharpe were our junior representatives. Devantē competed in the “Te Rāwhiti Ihaka” section which is the Junior Māori competition. Tāne spoke in the “Tā Turi Carroll” section which is the junior English section. Both of these two tama spoke proudly and passionately and it is fair to say that they made the rest of us - as a Shirley whānau - very proud.

All four speakers were supported by the SBHS Kapa Haka group who performed captivating haka to tautoko (support) their respective speakers.

Results

Manahi came 2nd place in the prepared speech section of his competition, however, due to the impromptu component he placed 3rd overall- which is an outstanding result as he was one of the youngest speakers in his competition.

Keenan, Devantē and Tāne all had exceptional results but unfortunately did not place in the highest 3 places to receive awards… although, I’m sure they weren’t very far off.

The overall day was a huge success and an important building block for the Shirley Boys’ High School Māori community as we established ourselves as a very passionate Māori group with a lot of potential to be very strong in the future.

Personally I enjoyed seeing Shirley Boys’ having a strong level of participation and enthusiasm towards this event. It is a very significant event because it shows the rest of our region - Waitaha - that Te Reo Māori at Shirley Boys’ High School is very much well and alive and that we all care very dearly about our culture. Hopefully they too can see the beauty and uniqueness of our culture and national language.

Nāku me ngā mihi,

Tyreice Tuliau - Year 11