In term 3 and 4 Year 10 students were offered two new integrated courses: Art & Us and Discovering Whakapapa. These studies focused on similar strands in English and Social Studies, so on Thursday 27 October 2022 the two classes, accompanied by Mrs Kemp, Ms Power, and Matua Kieren, took a field trip together up to Te Puia, in Rotorua, where students were taken on a guided tour of the attraction by local tangata whenua.

On tour, the students were shown through Te Puia’s carving school and Ta Moko studio and told how stories and messages are conveyed through carving and Tā Moko designs. They saw young carvers’ in action in the studio, using traditional tools on traditional materials. The carvings of parts of marae are a significant aspect of New Zealand Maori culture; In Maori history, carving itself was also a spiritual act surrounded in tapu. 

The wood chips carved and the tools used were all considered tapu, and thus were put in high regard. Same also goes for the carvers who would craft their intricate designs into wood, stone and the sacred pounamu. Students learnt that Tā moko - or facial tattoos - reflect an individual's whakapapa (ancestry) and personal history. In earlier times it was an important signifier of social rank, knowledge, skill and eligibility to marry.

In addition to the cultural sights and learning, students were given an engaging tour of the Kiwi enclosure; meeting the feathery locals and learning about the important environmental programmes that can keep them safe. Classes were shown the hot geysers and mud pools - some of the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere - and were shared into the myths and stories about each one. The trip finished with an impromptu celebration for Kelly Karaka’s birthday in the cafe!

It was a great day out with a great bunch of people.