New Zealand History is a topic that has come up quite a bit in the media recently. Here's how we cover our history at Westmere.

We believe it is important that our children have a working knowledge of New Zealand's history. While your child is at Westmere School they will make their way through our history as they progress through their years at school. 

Y0-2 Pre-contact history

• Māori as tangata whenua
  

• Migration from Hawaiki

• Settlement and material culture (eg. pā, food gathering, social organisation, clothing, ocean voyaging, navigation, mythology)

Y3-4 Contact up to Treaty

• Timelines of tauiwi arrival

• Traders, missionaries, sealers/whalers

• Colonisation (why did British come to NZ)

• What led to the signing of the Treaty

Y5-6 Te Tiriti o Waitangi & Post Treaty

• Te Tiriti o Waitangi

• Land Wars

• How has the Treaty been breached and then addressed through the Tribunal (using local examples)

This history is explored through the local and surrounding areas. For example, walks through our neighbourhood to visit important precontact landmarks like Waiorea, Waititiko (Meola Creek) etc., trips to local maunga to explore Pah sites, exploring the local history of settlers in the area and their influence on the land, e.g. market gardens, the tanneries, Auckland Zoo.