Kotahitanga week

Kotahitanga Week: 21st-24th March

This week is Kotahitanga week and we are immersing ourselves in Maori culture. Monday began with a spectacular whole school powhiri, and the sharing of each classes pou design. Nepia house has a rotation where students can practice koru designs, weaving, and learn rakau.
On Thursday we are heading off to Matahiwi marae. Students will each post a blog about this week, so stay tuned....

Room 8's Pou design

Our Homework in week 6 was to design a class Pou to be displayed in the hall. Students needed to consider what symbols and images could represent our class. We had many wonderful, creative designs to choose from. We voted as a class and after shortlisting our favourites, we selected Ella's design to work with. We all contributed by painting and making our handprints for the Pou. This is Ella's description of what the design represents:

Our pou represents all things about us.The kiwi shows that we are a New Zealand school. The sun rising shows that we are bright and ready to learn. Te Mata O Rongokako and the tuki tuki river for our landmarks which our school are nestled in. The rugby ball and goal post symbolise George Nepia, our house hero. The message bubbles identify that we are a digital school and show that we all have different cultures. HNI is our school. The music symbols recognise the music, school song and the many other cultural opportunities Room 8 are involved in.The lollipops are our friendship. 

Tent pitching

On Monday, Room 5 and Room 8 practiced pitching tents for camp. It was a big learning curve for some students. They were encouraged to be working together as a team, overcoming challenges, and experience learning in a hands-on environment. Hopefully we will be quicker at it by the time camp arrives!

Canteen

Our canteen has had a change this year by introducing heaps of healthy, nutritious, and delicious foods. We have wraps, pizza, popcorn, watermelon icies and choc dipped bananas. Yum! Keep an eye out for more new foods and bring along your spare change for a healthy treat.

The Flag Debate

At the moment, Room 8 are exploring the current flag debate! We showed a range of perspectives through the use of drama! Some very entertaining yet informative shows.