Sail Away - Parts of a Boat

 We have been trying out Yachting NZ's 'Kōkōkaha' sailing education programme. No better time, given Beach Week is upon us! Goals are being set and Māhutonga Matariki are about to get out on the water. 

In this rotation we thought about the different parts of a sail boat and how they contribute to the stability, power and movement of it. 

We connected to last year's learning around Polynesian Navigation. Many of us were aware of how double-hulled boats give more stability for ocean voyages. He waka hourua tēnā! 

Learning about the keel (or centreboard in the boats we'll use) was especially useful for those of us who worry about capsizing! We prototyped, testing our designs in an icecream container and blowing a gale at them. 

Te Papa Trip 2020

Our Te Papa Trip was packed full of learning! We already knew about lots of it from our inquiries over the past year.

Learning more about the waharoa (gateway) that greets manuhiri (visitors) to Te Papa.

We learnt how to be good users of the museum - how to move around safely and what questions to ask - 1. What is it?, 2. What is it made from?, 3. What is its story?

Learning about the backstory of this cannon, originally from Captain Cook's Endeavour.

Giant versions of the Te Reo Māori and English versions of the Treaty surrounded us while we learnt more about it.

We heard more about the Treaty of Waitangi, and did an activity in which we looked at it from the perspective of four groups - The Crown, Tangata Whenua, Christian Missionaries and the Sealers & Whalers.

We are marking out the three points of the Polynesian Triangle.

We watched another version of Tupaia's story and had a chance to share what we already knew. 

We shared our knowledge of Polynesian Navigation, Cook & Tupaia and the wharenui Te Hau ki Tūranga with Laura. She showed us some more artefacts, videos and stories.

A great day for consolidating our rich Inquiry learning, connecting with others and getting out and about! Ngā mihi nui ki a kaimahi o Te Papa Tongarewa - A huge thank you to the staff at Museum of New Zealand.

Tuia 250 Vessels Open Day Trip

The Tuia – Encounters 250 commemoration is a programme of events, education and over 50 projects enriching communities nationwide. It celebrates Aotearoa New Zealand’s Pacific voyaging heritage and acknowledges the first onshore encounters between Māori and Pākehā in 1769–70. Use Tuia 250 as an opportunity to hold honest conversations about the past, the present and how we navigate our shared future. Read more about it here.

After a year in which we, as a both country and a school, have really boosted our understanding of and commitment to Aotearoa's shared past and future - being invited to the Tuia 250 Vessels Open Day was an unmissable opportunity.

The Ministry of Culture & Heritage and the Ministry of Education put on a wonderful event and catered to over 1500 kids from around the region.

We boarded the Endeavour replica, the Spirit of New Zealand and three Polynesian waka hourua Ngahiraka Mai Tawhiti, Haunui and Fa'afaite. What better way to get a sense of what things would have been like at sea 250... 350... 800 years ago!

On land, Polynesian art and star navigation activities were on offer. We even got a gift bag! We heard familiar stories, like that of Tupaia, and added to our growing 'kete' of knowledge about New Zealand's history - going MUCH further back than 250 years.

The Endeavour!

Boarding Fa'afaite, the Tahitian va'a tipaerua/waka hourua/twin-hulled waka. 

Exploring Fa'afaite's narrow, tiny cabins

Hanging out in between two hulls

Tahitian print artworks

So many ropes!

Fun with connectors

Fa'afaite

Haunui

Tahitian art prints

Onboard the Spirit of New Zealand

Whare on the horizon - Star navigation

Māhutonga - the Southern Cross

Tekoteko (carving) onboard Fa'afaite

A day we'll never forget.

Tuia 250's karakia is the same one we use after Kapa Haka. Here are the words:

Tuia i runga
That it be woven above

Tuia i raro
as it is below

Tuia i waho
Woven without,

Tuia i roto
as it is within

Tuia i te here tāngata
Interwoven with the threads of humanity

Ka rongo te pō
Felt in innocence

Ka rongo te ao
And in consciousness

Tihei Mauri Ora!

Pātaka Art + Museum Trip - Kupe to Cook

"CREEEEEEEEAK... puff!" 

That was the sound of brakes. The bus had stopped. "Boom boom!" 

Jenny's voice echoed over the walls of the bus. "Say thank you to the bus driver as you SLOWLY head out!" 

Kids pushed their way through the small bus, and quiet 'thankyous' got murmured through the crowd. I pushed through the crowd of kids, quickly saying thank you to the driver I rushed out... and fell into a puddle. I was soaked. 

Me and the others ran to the museum, excited. I glared at the pictures of warriors and ships, statues and much much more...

Mae S

The first thing we did was go to the education room where we made waka hourua. Me and Emelia made one that suffered a horrible storm. - Greta L

 In the education room we made our own waka houruas with driftwood. We learned the evolution of navigation and how (and why) navigators got to new places. - William J




At the Pātaka museum we saw a big rock and it turned out that it was Kupe's anchor stone. We thought the boat must must have been big if it could hold that enormous stone! - Evie R

 

The only thing we were allowed to touch was Kupe's anchor stone from his waka hourua! - William J

I am bewildered at how cool this experience was! We were amazed at how much Māori treasure tapa cloth - Solly Y

We stopped at a big tapa cloth. The tapa cloth was very sacred to the Polynesians. We don't have that much in NZ because the weather was too cold to grow it. - Cleo S 

We went to the Pātaka museum, in Porirua on Monday. We attended the exhibition 'Kupe to Cook' and saw some really cool things, from Kupe's anchor stone, to signatures from the Treaty of Waitangi. One of the first things we did was study a painting made on Tapa. Tapa is a type of fabric that is made from plants, and is sacred to Polynesians. When Māori came to NZ they brought Tapa seed with them, but it was too cold for it to grow. So when Cook came, with Tapa, he experienced quite a bit of excitement about it. After that, we did a remake of a Polynesian navigation swell chart, which was quite fun. We then went through the story of Tupaia, although we already knew it! The whole exhibition locked in nicely with our own inquiry, which is all about Māori Navigators - Emelia K 

We also learned that Te Maro was the first Māori to be killed by a gun and Tupaia and him never got to meet. - Stella Z

On this trip, Māhutonga Matariki learnt more about our Polynesian ancestors who were very intelligent navigators. They used the stars to sail around the biggest ocean… the Pacific! They used big waka hourua - double hulled waka - which we got to make. That was really interesting. We also learnt about a very special type of fabric or paper that Māori and other Polynesians appreciate. It's amazing to know that the knowledge at Pātaka connected with ours at Whetūkairangi. - Gina L