The Korimako tamariki enjoyed a fun day out at a local Rongoā site learning about Māori connection to the land.

Last Thursday we had the good fortune of The Styx Living Laboratory Trust hosting us at a local site just up Marshland Rd. We were there to further understand how Māori connect to the land, both currently and historically. 

We started the day by being welcomed to the land by Aperahama Kipa (from the Kahukura Rongoā Māori Trust) and singing a waiata about the importance of water. Students then participated in 4 activities. These were Bird Watching, Harakeke Weaving, Water Quality and Talking Circles/Rongoā Māori (traditional medicine).

Neve's favourite activity of the day was the Harakeke Weaving. She enjoyed working with her group to learn how to cut the harakeke and to weave it. Neve liked learning to cut the harakeke into strips by folding it then striping it down. She is looking forward to doing more of this in class with Mrs Kerin and Mr Millar.

Charlie C enjoyed the Water Quality activity. She learnt about the water catchment area and how a lot of the water came from the Waimakariri River. Charlie found learning about water visibility interesting. They had a long tube filled with water and moved a black magnet further down the  tube until it could not be seen clearly. They found the visibility to be 41cm at it's clearest. 

Ruby and Eilish aka Rilish found the Bird Watching to be a lot fun, which they were surprised by. Eilish liked using binoculars to see things close up and enjoyed going to different spots. Ruby saw a fantail (piwakawaka) up close and also some chickens at a nearby farm.

Emily S was interested in the Talking Circle where Aperahama shared stories about his iwi, awa and where he was from. He told us of the importance of kaitiakitanga (guardianship) of our land. Students took turns sharing things about themselves and what they are looking forward to. They learnt about how plants can be used for medicine (Rongoā Māori). Korimiko leaves can be made into a brew and used for healing a stomach ache. Finally, they collected sticks (a huge highlight!).

Despite the cold, it was a great day out and we have a lot of things to learn more about in class. We were so lucky that this was fully funded by The Styx Living Laboratory Trust who ran the whole day for us. We must also mention the incredible parent helpers, we couldn't have gone without you and you helped make the day run smoothly.