On Monday 11 September, our school started the week and day with a liturgy to commemorate Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. The liturgy was held in the auditorium, with only a few homerooms attended whilst the rest of the school watched a live broadcast from their classrooms. The liturgy started off with representatives from each house entering the auditorium and going on the stage carrying the flags of their respective house groups. The liturgy then went on to a reading from the Bible; The prayers of the faithful were spoken in te Reo Māori and at the end everyone sang ‘Mo Maria.’
Then on Thursday, to commemorate the time that the Māori Language Petition was brought to parliament, our school gathered in the courtyard for Te Wā Tuku Reo Māori our ‘Māori Language Moment.’ First, we began with a prayer led by two students from the Kapa Haka group which was then followed by a special guest, Melina Amos, sharing a speech with us. She was the daughter of former minister, Phil Amos, who received the Māori Language Petition on the 14 September 1972. Her speech taught us all about the significance of the Māori Language Petition and how challenging those times were for Māori. Then, to conclude the special moment, the whole school sang ‘Tūtira mai ngā iwi.’
Friday ended with a specially planned trip for the Year 9s to Botany Hoyts to view the Coco movie in te Reo Māori. This trip was a perfect opportunity for the Year 9 students to practice their listening and translation skills while enjoying the movie; numerous students identified Māori words they had learnt in class!
Māori language week concluded with success thanks to Mrs Hiddleston, students, and everyone who contributed. It was a memorable week of embracing Māori language.
