There was so much mana, pride and strength on display for the Year 7 haka competition.

It was an exciting Monday morning, as everyone gathered together with joy - waiting for school to begin. Today was the start of Marae week for the year 7s, that included weaving flowers out of harakeke, making tukutuku panels, and of course everyone learning the school haka. 

This week every year 7 class at Tahuna was going to practice, and become better each time - trying their best… becoming the best. Then when Friday would finally arrive, each class would do the haka performance in front of 600 kids, wow! 

During Marae week all classes practiced very hard, nearly every time when we had spare time we would go and practice together. Each class was also very lucky to have some tuakana (year 8 helpers) come in and practice the haka with us, they corrected all the mistakes the classes had, and totally prepared the year 7s for the big competition ahead. 

It was sometimes very hard, when our leaders asked the classes to do it over and over again… but once Friday came closer, everybody became more and more excited, and all classes wanted to be the winners. 

Finally the big day arrived, every year 7 class bunched up into the hall, and one by one the performances started. This experience was such a fun one, to do it in front of 600 kids that everyone gave their best, and pushed themselves to the highest level! 

Marae week was an awesome way to get to know and celebrate Māori tikanga, and to have lots of fun during the week completing the amazing activities! 

By Anna Balogh (19A)