Carved and painted. You can see it with all the others at the Bayswater Matariki Festival on June 24th, alongside our kapa haka group, who will be performing alongside all the peninsula schools.

History of the SBS carving project Feb - June 2023.

We were invited by Bayswater School, to work alongside the other peninsula schools & a local carver, Natanahira-(and later his apprentice, Caleb) to create large carved panels that tell the story of Matariki.

This has been an involved process, where 10 selected children, first learnt how to carve their own polystyrene panel. (All cut-offs are thoughtfully recycled!) It was a lot harder than it looked! And some children elected to leave after completing their individual panel- others joined the bi-weekly lunchtime sessions- trying their hands at a more complicated design. Some worked over the holidays and completed our Stanley Bay TUMATUENGA giant panel- which is painted in fluorescent paint- shining as a night-sky display at the BAYSWATER MATARIKI FESTIVAL on June 24th.

A special nga mihi nui for Beth, Maddie, Juliette & Sophia for the final push today, working through morning tea, with Caleb and Natanahira, to really polish the giant artwork!

And a massive thank you to Jill Cahill for overseeing the whole project