Week 8 in Te Kinga

 MATARIKI 2022

This week was a very special week at our school, and for New Zealand as we celebrated our first Matariki as a nation. 

Learning about Matariki - by Morgan

Matariki is a celebration of Māori New Year. This year Matariki is celebrated on the 24th of June. There are nine stars of Matariki. They are called;Matariki, Tupurangi, Waipuna-ā-rangi, Waitī, Tupuanuku, Ururangi, Waita, Pōhutukawa and Hiwa-i-te-rangi. 

The Matariki cluster appears in the north-east of the sky in New Zealand every year. When the Matariki stars show up closer together, this means it will be a cold year ahead but if they are further apart that means the weather for the year will be warm. 

Matariki is normally a time spent with friends and family. People celebrate Matariki in many ways like making traditional Māori kites (manu tukutuku), remembering people you have lost and storytelling. 

Matariki Day at Lake Brunner School

This year we weren't able to have our Matariki evening as planned so we had a Matariki celebration day instead! 

Michael, Fletcher W, Blake and Riley spent the day helping others (and Pauline) to plant their family trees. This involved a lot of hands on work - they did a fantastic job!

Over the day our students in made a ‘Wish Star’ or recorded a ‘Future Goal’ star. Krystal lent a hand to cut out stars for everyone! 

Matthew and Nic played Whano Whano (a traditional game to better the footwork of young Māori warriors) with everyone - this was both fun and challenging. Then we played a new game called Matariki ball. The challenge for each team was to get their objects down to the Matariki cluster target at the end of the court - we loved this game! 

Olivia made ‘Grateful’ treats with everyone all day! This included savoury puffs, chocolate muffins, fudge cake and chocolate chip biscuits. At the end of the day we gathered at the planting site and everyone spoke about something they were grateful for. We then got to eat our ‘Grateful Treats’ for which we were very grateful for! We hope you had a wonderful Matariki celebration over the weekend!