Room 11's e oho practice!

Here's some footage taken during Room 11's Te Reo session with Whaea Saf today.  They are practicing our waiata tira for next week's Hōkūlea and Hikianalia waka visit.  Aren't they awesome!


IMG 1820 from Team 3 PES on Vimeo.

TKOTW - awa / river

Paikea and Tom have starred in our last 3 'Te kupu o te wiki' snippets.  This week they are sharing their kupu filmed in our back yard (Omaru creek right next door to our kura).  

TKOTW awa river from Team 1 PES on Vimeo.

TKOTW - papatūānuku / Mother Earth

This weeks te kupu o te wiki was written and performed by Tom and Paikea from Class 12 - ka pai kōrua ANO!


TKOTW - papatuanuku earth from Team 1 PES on Vimeo.

Class 6 - Whakapapa Boards

Class 6 - Whakapapa Boards from Team 1 PES on Vimeo.

Towards the end of last term and during the beginning of this term, Class 6 have been working very hard on their Whakapapa Boards.

Students had to research designs from each of their parents/caregivers culture and choose one that represents each of them.  Their third design had to depict something from 'Aotearoa'. 

Their first designs were drafted onto paper and coloured in with coloured pencils.  They then had to transfer their drawings onto particle board.  They learned a new painting techique called 'cutting in' which took a lot of patience and perseverance.

Students were very happy with their designs and most of them have decided to give them away as koha for christmas to special whānau members.  Ka pai tamariki o karaihe ono!

People Leaders Day Performance @ Victoria Park Market

On Thursday 8th May 2014, our senior kapa haka group traveled to Victoria Park Market to perform for the 'People Leaders Day - Unleashing Potential' event run by Telecom.

We arrived on our luxury coach a little after 5.30pm.  The group were ushered to our changing room and began getting ready for our bracket.  Students were buzzing and excited to be performing outside of our school grounds.

The stage looked magnificent, illuminated by colourful lights and was dwarfed by an ancient Pohutukawa Tree.  This sight heightened the excitement of our students.  5 minutes before our start time, the heavens opened and down came the rain.

What started as a light shower soon turned into a downpour.  We rushed into the 'plan B' area, which was the market's car park.  The chaos didn't phase our wonderful students as they quickly repositioned themselves under the shelter of level one car park.  "Start now, start now" was the signal from Hannah, the event organiser.

The shelter acted as an amplifier and sent the beautiful voices of our group out towards and beyond the Victoria cricket grounds.  The managers from 120 different telecom retailers around NZ hovered around the performing group, enjoying the protection from the rain and the marvelous singing.

The group represented our school and community with kaha and dignity and were acknowledged for their efforts by Chris Quin who is the Chief Executive of Telecom Retail.  A generous koha was handed over from Mr Quin to our very own kaia Tyler-Marie and we are very grateful for both the opportunity for our students and the koha which will go towards whānau hui and Kapa Haka wānanga.

After the manuhiri tuārangi (distinguished guests) left, I could tell by students actions and faces, that the they experienced the pride of 'taonga tuku iho' (treasures passed down to us)  left by our Tupuna.  A wonderful experience for everyone involved - we are so proud of our students.  "Whaia kia eke' Strive to succeed!