Te Reo Māori

There's a saying in Te Reo Māori which goes: Ko taku reo taku ohooho, ko taku reo taku mapihi mauria. It means "My language is my awakening, my language is the window to my soul." At WBS we want to make sure that staff and students alike are able to learn and grow in their understanding of Māori language and culture. 

Many of us dream of a future where te reo is used more widely in the lives of all Kiwis. We are working towards that future now, with regular Te Reo Māori lessons as part of our programme. 

Here is a recap of some of our learning so far this year:

We can describe giving and receiving objects

We can express how we are feeling

We can express likes/dislikes

We have adopted kīwaha/sayings

We can have short, informal conversations

We can recite our pepeha

This is a mere snapshot of all our reo. All the while we have also been performing kapa haka, learning about Māori history, celebrating Matariki and carrying out tikanga Māori such as pōwhiri, karakia and kōrero paki (storytelling). Mīharo!

Stay tuned as our Te Reo Māori learning for Term 3 kicks in next week. With Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori coming up, it's going to be a big one. Kia kaha te reo Māori. Korero Māori mai!

Pepeha with our Friends at Auroa School

We recently did a Skype with Auroa School in Taranaki. We took turns saying our pepeha and saying it without reading it. We acknowledged the other school for giving it their best shot. It was a great experience speaking to others in a different language and getting the courage for public speaking. We think they did good for the first time saying their pepeha to people they didn’t know for the first time. We were very nervous and one of us nearly chickened out of doing it but he still persevered.

Pepeha

Pepeha is a way of introducing yourself in Māori. It tells people who you are by sharing your connections with the people and places that are important to you. 

We have been learning about why we acknowledge the land before we talk about family and ourselves. 

We have started to create our own pepeha artwork.

By Kate

By Emelie

By Joni