MATARIKI                        

Matariki is the only official Māori holiday. Matariki is a day of remembrance and reflecting on the past and planning for the future. Matariki is a day of celebration, also a Maori view about Matariki is that which ever star shines the brightest is the one which will most affect you, like waiata will mean good kaimona produced for you, Tupuanuku which will mean good kai produced from the ground harvests, and finally Tupuarangi which will provide good kai which is sourced from the trees, and that is only three of the nine stars of matariki. That is one of the many Māori views.                        

Some of the activities that people will participate in are recognising and remembering the stars, harvesting crops, and finally sharing kai with your whanau. The activity of spotting stars is one of the harder tasks as you would have to get up really early in the morning. One of the other activities which is sharing kai is traditionally on the days before you would harvest food and prepare for the coming holiday. Those are some of the Māori activities that people participate in. 

By Liam Mahoney                                                       

On Tuesday 2nd July we celebrated Matariki with a chilly early morning celebration on the field. Several children shared stories they had written, about the meaning of Matariki. After the early morning celebration we gathered in the hall for a shared community breakfast, cooked and served by the staff. The remainder of the day was spent learning about the meaning of Matariki, cooking and sharing kai, the children also made and flew kites.

* The Matariki Day celebration sausage sizzle was proudly sponsored by