Earlier this term, Rachelle & I decided to take our kapa haka group to the marae. We had two main goals in mind during the trip: we wanted our tamariki to experience a powhiri in a local, marae setting, and we also wanted whanau engagement and input into our future plans for the kapa haka group.
We were a little disappointed with the outcome, only a few parents came along, however we were also realistic in understanding that majority of our parents work or have prior commitments. The feedback we got from the whanau we did have was fantastic, and supportive of our whakaaro which was great. The students had so much fun! We set up the junior school with another one of our colleagues and her year 7 & 8 class, where they participated in interactive activities for the afternoon. While the seniors were involved in our hui, we also got to witness the benefits of play-based learning - a paper I'm currently working towards in completing my post-grad in digital technology. It was amazing! We divided the students and whanau up into four small groups where they rotated around, much like a bus stop activity. In between each stop however, I provided materials and simply instructed the students and whanau to 'play'. Our first activity was tititorea, followed by waiata, strong games, and pukana. The levels of engagement and contributions, from the students and the parents, continued to grow and improve after each 'play' activity. I got so excited to be watching something I had been studying for the last few weeks, in action and a success! The kids had so much fun, and so did the adults! Such a valuable experience that I can't wait to do again!
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