Matariki: Te Tau Hou Māori
The month of June has seen a lot of preparation by our tamariki and kaiako for our Matariki night at Mt Royal. We have been learning about the importance of the Matariki -The Maori new year and why it is celebrated through discussions and research. We have also been reading books about Matariki and practicing and learning new waiata.
Tamariki have been working on projects such as building a Marae, and creating a wall display that was inspired by the legend of How Maui slowed the sun. Our Matariiki night was celebrated on Friday 28th June with our parents and whanau.
We would like to thank our whanau who took their time out to be part of the celebration at Mt Royal. As it is said that Matariki is a time to gather with family and friends to reflect on the past, celebrate the present, and plan for the future and I think our Matariki night just reflected that.
We began by singing a few waiata and performing a poi dance and a dance with sticks. Tamariki showed much excitement and enjoyed performing for their parents and whanau. One of our tamariki’s whanau said their mihi, read a Maori myths and legend book and finished it with a karakia . We then had a shared kai whilst sharing stories and enjoying each others company.
Thank you to our tamariki for the awesome performance, kaiako, parents and whanau for making this a memorable night.
