Mihi Whakatau and Hīkoi

Mihi Whakatau

Thursday was a big day for us; all about connecting!

Firstly, Mihi Whakatau was connecting with our new whānau and staff. It is always a real highlight of our annual calendar and a real celebration of our special place up here on the cliff tops. This wāhi tupuna, or place of the ancestors, is really significant as we know it is the first permanent Pā site in the Te Whanganui-a-Tara area. We are connected to the past, we are connected to the sea, the wind and our wider environment. With Mihi Whakatau, our new students, families and teachers become tangata whenua and, as such, belong here. Connected as part of our Worser Bay Whānau forever!

In the evening, we had a hardy group join together for the Hikoi. Tāwhirimātea was out in force but were we daunted? Not a chance! We told the stories of the past, from the legends of the great Taniwha, Kupe and the giant wheke through to the stories of Taranihoniho and the early settlement of the motu, Te Motuwhetukairangi.

Thanks to all of you who participated in these events; it was fantastic to connect with you all.

Hīkoi

Puanga Whānau Day - Carl, Nik + Teuila

We had a great time connecting with our Whānau Group this week to learn about and celebrate Puanga. You may have heard of Matariki as being the Māori New Year. Read on to find out what we learnt about the Puanga, lesser known among pākehā but highly significant to us here at Whetūkairangi.

We started off the day learning a new waiata, which was gifted to us as a taonga from Te Āti Awa, the mana whenua of this rohe (region). We hope to sing this for you some time soon!


Then we spent a bit of time getting to know our new whānau members (and reconnecting with old ones). Then it was in to the art!

Yesterday we had a day of learning about Māori New Year. We learnt about Puanga and we did art. We had to cut out a mountain from card and with the scraps make texture on the mountain. We used tinfoil to make the star, Puanga, and we used pastel to colour the sky and other stars. Puanga is a star that you can see at the end of the Māori year. Matariki is what you see at the start.

- Chris G

We learnt a song from the Taranaki tribe which they sing at Puanga. Wellington mainly celebrates Puanga as we can't see Matariki because of the mountains. So, we made some mountain art with pastels and paper. We layered the mountain with cut out paper. Last but not least we added a tinfoil star - Puanga! 

- Sabine M

I learnt that Matariki isn't the only stars we celebrate. Puanga is higher in the sky than Matariki. I also learnt that Tautoru is three stars and they point at Matariki. The mountains block our view of Matariki.

- Tigerlily V

Part way through the day Matua Henare came to do a Kapa Haka workshop with us. A great opportunity to practice our skills with a mixed group from across the school. This gave our seniors a chance to show some leadership. Sometimes we perform together, but we hardly ever practice together so this was really special. Tau kē!

Learning about Puanga doesn't mean we forget about Matariki! Matua Henare taught us new lines for the song 'Te Iwa o Matariki' which add in the extra two stars:

Ko Pohutukawa e

Ko Hiwaiterangi e

Matariki, e arā e...

Whānau Day Term 4 - Character Strengths (Nik & Carl)

On our Term 4 Whānau Day each group came together to look at character strengths.

Nik & Carl's group thought about perspective. How can we use our Character Strengths to show empathy to others? We think that this is made easier by putting ourselves in other people's shoes.

First, we watched the The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. Hearing this famous story from the wolf's perspective got us thinking! Maybe people who we think are 'bad' could just be misunderstood?

We discussed how we could use the Character Strength of Hope to help someone feeling down on themselves - as the wolf had been when everyone painted him as the bad guy. 

Then we did a bus-stop style activity where we did the same with the strengths of Gratitude, Bravery, Humour and Kindness.


This was a great chance for our seniors to show some leadership, helping their Tautoru and Autahi whānau to share their thoughts.

To finish off, we completed our own hope jar inspired by the BFG. In this we put some of our hopes for the future.

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!

'The Great Waka of Tama Rēreti' - Matariki Whānau Day

Our 2019 Matariki Whānau Day was a huge success, with each whānau group coming together to celebrate Te Ao Māori through the Arts.

Carl and Nik's whānau group (with fantastic support from Cloe!) watched and listened to some different versions of The Great Waka of Tama Rēreti.

We then got in to groups to create backgrounds and moving figures for a paper theatre.

With the help of Carl's height, we filmed our movie in just a few takes.

Later, we used GarageBand to record some background noises, such as the Taniwha, water and fire.

A special mention must go to Matilda, who did an exceptional job of narrating the story.

Check out our finished product below!

What whānau and tuakana/ teina means to us!

Orla: In my class people have helped and I have helped other people we are a whānau that means we help and work together the younger help us because they might have learnt things in a different class but sometimes if we have learnt something already and they haven’t they would help us and we would help then and that would benefit all we work as a whānau. For example if I didn’t hear what Nicola said someone else will help me. When I get stuck because I read the question wrong someone will correct my mistake so it will mean I can try again. I helped my brother when he started he didn’t know who anyone was so I let him play with me. We work as a whānau at Worser Bay school.

Yasmin: In my class people have helped me. At Worser Bay, we are whānau. We help each other even if they're younger they can still help us, for example when I loose things, younger kids and my friends are always helping me. That means even if they're younger than me they can still be my tuakana. When people need my help I help people, for example if someone is stuck and they need an idea I help them get an idea. Sometimes I'm a teina and sometimes I'm a tuakana. I am tuakuna for the whole school by organising events for school.

Nell: 

Tuakana- helped someone 

I helped Isabel when she was upset. 

I helped Emelia to learn how to model a dog. 

Teina - getting helped I got helped by Emelia and Isabel when I was scared about the art celebration. 

I got helped by the ukulele group to learn the ukulele when I didn’t know any chords.