On Thursday 23rd July, our school community celebrated the Māori New Year with a whānau event in the school cafe where we hosted around 120 whānau, ākonga and kaimahi (staff) with a kai folowed by a Kapa Haka performance and our Manu Kōrero speech finals for our kura.

Every year in June and July, the stars of Puaka and Matariki mark the beginning of the Māori New Year, with Matariki celebrations this year from July 13th - July 20th. It should be noted that different iwi mark different times for the Māori New Year depending on location, and in Te Waipounamu (The South Island), Puaka (Rigel) is another star used to mark this time. Puaka Matariki is a time to reflect on the past year and make wishes for the coming year, stay warm and tell stories with whānau, and for acknowledging our dead who have passed away over the previous year, with one Māori belief being that at this time they rise into the sky to become our shining stars.

For our celebration evening we had a delicious meal to start with, followed by a fantastic performance from our school kapa haka, led by Chantelle and Tyson. It was a great time to reflect that Chantelle had only started the kapa just over a year ago, and they have grown considerably in number and skill in an incredibly short space of time. Ka rawe hoki te tū a Te Kapa o Te Puna Wai o Waipapa!

Following this we held our Manu Kōrero finals where our top ākonga performed memorised speeches in English or Māori on a contemporary kaupapa. We were very fortunate to have Lynne Te Aika and Samantha Te Maiharoa-Sykes from Ngāi Tahu join us to help judge the competition, which was very close in both the English and Māori categories. Jorja Hutton won the English competition, followed by Sophie Dawson in second and Hana Hollister in third. For the reo Māori competition, Solomon Davis won, with Nova Taukamo placing second and Jesse Easterbrook third. All of the performers were incredible in their ability to engage and inspire thought and discussion in the audience, and although we were disappointed that we could not compete in the inter-school Manu Kōrero this year as it was cancelled due to Covid-19, we look forward to entering again as a kura next year. Ka nui te mihi ki ngā kaikōrero; i tū koutou i runga i te mana o ngā tūpuna.

Thank you to everyone who helped to organise this event, and to our school Māori, Kapa Haka and Reo Māori community for attending. With the start of the Māori New Year in late July this year, we hope that this new year is smoother and safer for all of us. Kia ora tonu tātau.