Kapa Haka Report

Annika Te Anga - Kaitaataki Waahine 2024

We not only embrace kaupapa at Dio through kapa haka, but through all of the extra-circulars such as Ngaa Manu Koorero. On the 2nd of August, a small group of kapa haka students attended the regional Maaori speech competition held in Te Aroha in support of Alana Ruddell (Year 10) and Tiaria Potaka (Year 12) who represented our kura. We are immensely proud of both of our speakers, who presented beautifully prepared and impromptu speeches to tough panels of judges. A special congratulations to Tiaria, who took out Korimako (Senior English) and Best Prepared Speech, earning herself a spot at the National competition held at Spark Arena in Auckland from the 9th to the 11th of September. In honour of this, our whole school were able to have a Whakanuia (Celebration) to welcome the trophies into our kura led by Te Kaahu Piihopatanga. 

Whaanau Dinner happens annually near the end of term 3, celebrating the amazing achievements we have made within Kaupapa Maaori. It is always a beautiful celebration that allows our community to gather over a shared love for kaupapa, kapa haka, and the yummy kai our catering team creates. On the 23rd and 24th of August, we had our final noho for the year in preparation for this annual event. We began our noho with games run by some Year 11 students, before cracking in and learning a new waiata to add to the bracket. Noho is always a good opportunity for our roopuu to come together as a haka whaanau to put in some hard mahi while still having the time to bond. The progress that our roopuu has made this year is evident in our bracket and I am so excited to showcase it to everyone at Whaanau Dinner in a week! 

We also have two more events to go as well. On the 16th of September, our roopuu are once again hosting the Te Pae Here Kapa Haka Festival, an event where kindergartens, primary, intermediate and secondary schools part of Te Raki Raawhiti o Kirikiriroa gather together in celebration of Te Wiki o Te Reo Maaori. This will be hosted in the schools’ All Saints Chapel. Kapa haka are also performing at the Arts Showcase, where all of the arts codes at Dio share just a snippet of their mahi from 2024. I look forward to seeing all of our whaanau in attendance at these events in support of our kapa haka and arts students. 

Debating
Congratulations to our junior debaters on their finals this week!

Our Year 10 team in the Junior Open finals, WDSG Ensemble (No Sympathy) vs Hamilton Boys and won, negating the moot “This house regrets the use of ChatGPT in schools to complete assignments and write essays”.

Our Year 9 team in the Junior Novice finals, WDSG Belles vs St Peter’s Cambridge lost, affirming the moot “This house regrets social media hindering people’s ability to form meaningful connections”.

Congratulations to both teams for all their efforts in this competition.

Waikato/BOP ITM Band and Orchestra Festival.

DiOrchestra + friends: Silver

Jazz Band: Silver

Pixie Kickers Guitar Ensemble: Silver + a merit award.

Congratulations to all of our players, tutors, directors and helpers. Many thanks to all our supporters and also to the ITM team for a massive event.