Visit to the Marae

On Thursday the 3rd of June, North East Valley Normal School went to Puke Te Raki Marae at Karitane. They left school on buses. Once they all had arrived at the Marae, they lined up outside of the gates and waited for the karanga to call. When Mrs Kewene – Edwards called back and the school started moving onto the Marae. Once they were on the Marae they sat down and the speeches started. Kane from the Tangata Whenua spoke and a waiata was sung. Jesse then stood up next and did his speech and another waiata was sung. Mr. Edwards stood up for the Manuhiri and did his speech. Then the school stood up and sang their waiata. Once this was done Mr. McKenzie stood up and did his speech. Again the school sang another waiata. Once finished, Mr. Andrews gave the koha to the Tangata Whenua. The hongi was done by everyone followed by kai, which everyone enjoyed. Sharing the stories of the Marae and the meaning of the carvings was told to all before the children were put into their groups. Grace’s group went to Heidi and they made putiputi from the flax. They all thought that it was hard but they enjoyed it. The putiputi all looked beautiful. The next station they were told stories by Diana and then they were taught string games. Some children had trouble but laughed and enjoyed the challenge. The next group of children went into the Wharenui where Jesse told stories about how the South Island came to be. After lunch the children finished off one more station until it was time for the korero whakamutunga. The children thanked and shared the things that they had learnt from the day and then sang their song. It was time for the school to leave onto the bus. Te Awa planted the koha with his dad, meanwhile the school sang a waiata to say goodbye. Everyone got on the buses and returned to school. The children enjoyed their time at the Marae. They could not wait to tell their families about this trip. Grace Check out the video that follows my recount