This week we spent some time working across the school in our whanau groups. This is a wonderful opportunity to get to work with other teachers and with kids of all ages across the school. It gives us a chance to be leaders and big buddies and to work in different spaces.
This time we were all learning about the story of Ngake and Whataitai--the taniwha of Wellington harbour and how relevant they are to our location here at Worser Bay. We learned a different version of the story that looks at the taniwha and each of their strengths. Each group explored these ideas through different ways. Some did collaborative art, team building exercises, and viewing the locations in the harbour that relate to the story from our local lookout.
Nau mai Matariki, nau mai Puanga, nau mai te tau hou Māori - We welcome Matariki, we welcome Puanga and the Māori New Year.
Matariki / Puanga is a time for learning and storytelling and an occasion for people to come together and celebrate what has been achieved in the past year. A time for whānau being together, celebrating a new year where everyone can flourish and remembering friends and whānau we have lost over the past wee while.
We met on the beach to see the stars and say karakia together.
The Kapa Haka festival was really fun. Wellington East Girl's College and Rongotai College (Ngā Taiohi o Te Rāwhiti) started it with an opening ceremony, then after the presenter's speech they shared their item. After that, Kahurangi school came up and shared an awesome item, and since they were the only other full school, there were so many of them! We were on third, and it felt really good to get it done so soon. It felt like just one minute, but our item was supposed to be five! There were a ton of other schools after that, including Miramar North School, Miramar Central School, Lyall Bay School, Evans Bay Intermediate School and Hataitai School. Once all the schools had shared, Everyone sung Matariki and Toia Mai on the seats they were on, and the thudding of feet on the floor and 1800 voices all across the room all singing was awesome. It felt so good to hear and see everyone singing and doing one song altogether in unison. I especially liked when we did the haka part, because different people were doing different parts of the song, and the fact that everyone knew their part in the song was great. It felt so good about doing something with different people who we might never have met, without clarifying that everyone knew what to do, but everyone did know what to do. - Will J
We have worked so hard on our performance over the past few months. The mana and ihi in Te Whānau o Whetūkairangi's performance was palpable! Here's an explanation of the meaning behind each part of our item:
'Noho ake au' (Mōteatea/Chant) - This chant speaks of tangata whenua, the tribes of Ngāi Tara and Ngāti Ira. The founding ancestors of these tribes and our treasured Pā site, Whatonga and his son, Taranihoniho are acknowledged. Tara's mother, Hotuwaipara is also mentioned.
'Utaina' (Waita-a-ringa/Action song) - This song is about paddling a waka in unison. We uplift the canoe, the canoe uplifts us. I a, ha, ha!
'Ko Te Upoko o Te Ika' - (Haka) - Our school haka, speaking of Whetūkairangi's position atop Motukairangi (Miramar) at the "head of the fish of Māui" (Wellington). Kupe's pursuit of the wheke (octopus) and our maunga, Tangi Te Keo (Mt Vic) are mentioned too. We look to the stars, Autahi, Tautoru, Māhutonga, Mataraiki, the family of Worser Bay School.
'Hutia te Rito' - (Waiata) - Our finale is a metaphor, it speaks of how pulling the centre shoot from the harakeke (flax plant) will stunt the growth of the species. He aha te mea nui o te ao? What is the most important thing in the world? Māku e ki atu ki a koe, He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. I say to you, it is people, it is people, it is people.
This week we celebrated the end of the first part of our NZ History Inquiry, Ngā Kōrero ō Mua. Students have been investigating different topics within our rich national and local histories. Thinking hard about the cause and effect of certain events, they have produced detailed essays, beautiful works of art and entertaining films. We are really proud of the engagement and thinking that has taken place and are looking forward to connecting these national stories to those of our own families in Term 3.
We celebrated this Inquiry with our friends from Tautoru. Our work will be on display next term and we also look forward to sharing it again during Student-led Conferences!
Here are a few snippets of our mahi:
Will's Cause & Effect diagram about the Wairau Affray
There were misunderstandings in The Treaty between Pakeha and Maori which led to conflict, such as war and land confiscation. Although things are improving, we still see conflict today for example, Putiki Bay, Waiheke Island which is being developed into a shopping area/loading dock which is frustrating local iwi. I think that in the future the Treaty will be respected more. - Isabella W
We are focusing on quite a lot of things, one of many would be art. For art we are focusing on Marc Chagall's work. We are getting inspired by his work and turning it into our own art. Another thing that we are hugely focusing on is Inquiry. We are doing our own inquiries about New Zealand's history and digging deeper into our history. We are trying to think like historians and see different perspectives.
Everything we are learning at the moment is hard but while we are struggling our brain is growing and developing. Don't ever forget your brain grows no matter what age! We are learning to not give up if we make a mistake. By trying again or fixing it, we all agree that this is a crucial part of learning, and we respect our learning a lot. We also think it’s important to remember to express our feelings and ideas through art!
Art:
We have been making at inspired by Marc Chagall here are some examples of his work:
We made backgrounds, added objects and people. We are learning to use only a limited amount of paint. We use white paint to build up a shadow with white paint before adding colour which helps develop the shadow to make the colour more visible. We blend different colours depending on our background. For example if we had blue and green backgrounds then our figures would be red and yellow so they would pop and you would be able to see the objects better.
Art in progress!
Inquiry:
For our Inquiry we usually get to choose our subject, the teachers do give us some borders for our questions. We enjoy making interesting inquiries around lots of different subjects. At the moment we are doing Inquiry around NZ history, we talked to some people and asked them what they are doing for inquiry. Most people are doing things about Māori and when Captain Cook came to NZ, We are learning to use keywords when we are finding information.
Once we finish our research we will be writing an essay about what we have been learning about. The essays are conclusions on our research showing our knowledge about this subject. We develop our knowledge around this subject because we think that Māoridom is a big part of our history and we are always keen to learn more about it. Learning how to do essays will help us in later life during college and university. We enjoy doing essays because they challenge us. We enjoy doing this topic because it is interesting and we enjoy learning about our past.
As part of our Inquiry 'Pūmanawatanga' we have been learning more about New Zealand's history. We have revisited our learning around Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We read a comic about Te Tiriti (read it here), we learnt about the different perspectives held by Māori, The Crown and others in New Zealand at the time. Our complex history is very interesting and things are beginning to click for the students. We are learning about the various 'characters' involved, among whom are James Busby, Edward Gibbon Wakefield and Tāmati Waka Nene.
We had discussions around the 'pros and cons' of Te Tiriti. As we discussed the different view points, we also went back to previous discussions around who writes history, and what is the truth?
We encourage discussions of this at home - there is a lot to learn, and it's great to be learning alongside students!
This term we are rotating around the teachers to learn different language structures in Te Reo Māori. One of these rotations is about asking 'what is this'
He aha tēnei?
What is this?
He pene rakau tēnā.
That's a pencil.
The tēnei, tēnā and tērā go in the same place, depending on where the object is in relation to the speakers.
Weeks of practice and dedication came together on Friday as we carried out our pōwhiri for 2021. Though the weather forced us inside at the last minute, we were so proud of the 'mana' and 'ihi' (essential force) shown by all students while performing haka and waiata. A special mention to our 'kaea' or kapa haka leaders who led from the front and really brought the house down! From the staff perspective, we were also thrilled to have been able to carry out more of the ceremony in Te Reo Māori, while following the 'kawa' or protocol of mana whenua, Te Āti Awa/Taranaki Whānui. If you haven't already, please check out the Week 4 Newsletter for translation and explanation of our pōwhiri.
Here are some of our students' thoughts on pōwhiri:
Pōwhiri was good. I liked the singing and sang with lots of power - Fabian S
I liked doing Taku Manu pōwhiri because you get to do lots of actions - Zen S
I had so much fun at the pōwhiri with all the people we were welcoming to the school - Zoe C
It was great, I felt really good about it because I was quite loud and I am very proud of myself - Aila B
I thought pōwhiri was really good, I enjoyed singing the songs and listening to the speeches - Lucy N
I was a leader for the pōwhiri and I think we gave it our all and gave it lots of power - Eddie B
Well, where to next? As well as mihi whakatau (smaller welcoming ceremonies for later arrivals) throughout the year, our attention now turns to the first kahui ako (group of Eastern Suburbs schools) Kapa Haka festival in Term 2. We are developing some old, new and different haka and waiata for this occasion, so watch this space!
Tuia, tuia tuia anō
Tuia i runga, Tuia i raro Tuia ki roto, tuia ki waho, Tuia te Whānau o Whetūkairangi. Ko te whānau o Whetūkairangi e Nō reira, e tau nei ki runga i a tātou katoa, te wairua aroha. Kia ora koutou katoa!
Above and below are woven together, as is what is inside us and that which is outside of us. And, we are woven together as a whānau, the Whānau of Whetūkairangi.
We have been exploring our own Tūrangawaewae. We have been thinking about where we grew up, where our parents grew up, our culture, our values and interests.
Tūranga - Position
Waewae - Feet
Tūrangawaewae is translated as the place where we stand!
Tūrangawaewae are places where we feel empowered and connected. They are our place in the world and our home.
A person’s marae is often seen as their Tūrangawaewae.
For us here at WBS, cultural and environmental sustainability go hand in hand. This week we have been learning more about kawakawa - the endemic plant species well-known for its use in rongoā, traditional Māori medicine. Some students have been writing comprehensive explanations, others have been getting out into the ngahere/forest to learn how to forage and make kawakawa tea.
- Nye W
- Charlotte C
- Ella M
We say this karakia before collecting kawakawa leaves, to show respect to the domain of Tāne Māhuta and Papatuānuku.
