On Friday 28th March Wairākei School sent two teams of four to compete in the Waimairi-iri Kāhui Ako Minecraft Competition.

I had the pleasure of taking both the Year 5 and Year 6 teams to the competition. The competitors were highly enthusiastic and represented our kura with pride. The Year 6 team consisted of Seongmin Lim, Kol Nilsen, Elisha Eldhose and Isaac Panjaitan. The Year 5 team members were Hugo Dunn, Amos Gitonga, James Potter and Zayliah Blunt.

Both teams had been practising for over two weeks to be match ready. The brief of the wero/challenge/competition was to create a build that reflected the `pūrakau/story of Kupe and the Giant Wheke. Teams were judged on: team work, their overall build and the innovative features of their design.

I was proud to observe our teams working together, persevering and displaying a 'can do' attitude to meet the challenge! Each group was allowed 2 slots of 15 minutes to complete the challenge.

Tūora Fendalton came 1st place for the Year 5 competition and Christ the King came 1st place for the Year 6 competition.

We also had the opportunity to get a photo with some of our past ākonga/students. Ka rawe tamariki mā, you should all be proud of the way you represented our kura!