Celebration of Learning 2017

Our school year is at an end. 

Last night was the school's Celebration of Learning.

B4's item was a dance telling the story of 

Tawhirimatea, God of the Wind.

Papatuanuku the Earth Mother, and Ranginui the Sky Father were clasped closely together, leaving no room for their children to grow. 
The children, all boys, decided to push the parents apart.

Tawhirimatea was against his brothers separating their parents  to make more room.

When they succeeded, he went to live with Ranginui in the sky.

Now, when he is happy, the sun shines, but if he feels angry, we get storms.

Our new school year starts at the end of January, 2018.

See you then!

Look Back to Look Forward - Pre-European NZ

Our school-wide big idea this term is 

'Look Back to Look Forward'.

In Social Studies with Mrs. W, the B4 children started by finding out about pre-European times in New Zealand.
What lessons can we learn for the future from the way early Maori lived their lives?

As part of their inquiry, the class collected harakeke (flax) from the school grounds.

They had to follow tikanga - protocols for gathering the harakeke.

They had to wait for a fine day, and a karakia (prayer) was said first.

They learned to not take the centre leaves (the baby) or the next leaves (the parents), but to only take the outside leaves (the grandparents).

Saying the karakia

Once the flax was gathered, a shell was used to scrape along the leaves to make some flax fibres.

The children twisted the fibres together into strings by rolling them up and down on their legs.

The fibres are strong!

The class are also learning some tī rākau  -stick games.

This video shows the very first try. 

We hope to post another video in a few weeks to show how much we have improved!

Have you tried working with harakeke? 

What about trying some stick games?

A Song to Finish the Colour Poem Project

The colour poem project has come to an end. 

For our final contribution we would like to sing a song about the colour names in Måori.

Mā is white,

whero is red,

kākāriki green

Pango is black,

Mangu is too,

A. E. I. O. U.

Kōwhai yellow,

parauri brown,

kikorangi blue

Mawhero pink

Karaka orange,

A. E. I. O. U.

Some of us are wearing pink for Pink Shirt Day - a day where people stand up against bullying.

Do you know some colour words in another language?

The Fish of Maui

The students from B4 have been working with Mrs Wright in Drama this term.

In the story, Maui (a Maori demi-god) hides away in his brothers' waka (canoe) when they go fishing. 
They row out from Te Waka a Maui - the South Island, 
(also known as Te Wai Pounamu) 
and Maui fishes up a huge fish which becomes the North Island - Te Ika a Maui 
(the fish of Maui)

Here is our play, called "The Fish of Maui'.

B4 students - what was your part in the play?

Do you have a favourite legend of Maui?

We're Proud of our Reefton Area School Kapahaka group!

Korbyn, a Year 2 from B4, is a member of our school 

kapahaka group. 

With the help of coast iwi, community members and some teachers, the students have trained hard to learn 
haka, poi and waiata ringa ringa (action songs).

The boys have even given their time some weekends to learn some haka.

Recently the group took part in the Tai Poutini Kapahaka Festival in Westport. 

(video courtesy of Martini Kira)

Leave a positive message for our kapahaka group telling them what you enjoyed about their performance.

Enjoying Kahurangi Theatre

We've enjoyed another quality show from Kahurangi Theatre .

This show told the story of Matariki, a star cluster who's appearance marks the beginning of the Maori New Year. Harvesting is done, food is collected and stored, and it is a time for stories, singing and dancing.

Kahurangi show at Reefton Area School from Judy McKenzie on Vimeo.

When do you celebrate New Year?

Taonga Puoro

Jerome visited our school and shared his 'taonga puoro' - singing treasures.

Jerome skillfully showed us how he is able to make music from 
percussive instruments such as rocks; 
wind instruments such as gourds, bones, putatara (shells) and wood; 

and whirling instruments.

He played music from a whale tooth. 
The tooth had been made into a nguru - nose flute.

Jerome used these carved instruments to tell the story of the casemoth:

Here is a compilation of the sounds of Jerome's instruments.
Singing Treasures at RAS from Judy McKenzie on Vimeo.

What was your favourite instrument?

For our visitors - What are some traditional musical treasures from your area?

'Top of the South' Area Schools' Tournament

We have 120 teenagers from six other schools visiting for the Top of the South Area Schools' Tournament. 

Area Schools are located in rural areas throughout New Zealand and cater for students from Years 0-13.

This tournament includes sporting and cultural events 
for the older students from:
Reefton Area School
Collingwood Area School
Rai Valley Area School
Tapawera Area School
Murchison Area School
Karamea Area School
and South Westland Area School.
Visiting students are billeted with school and community families for the week. 


View Top of the South Area Schools in a larger map

The first day started with a powhiri to welcome the visitors to our school.
The visitors were called in:
Powhiri 1 from Judy McKenzie on Vimeo.

and welcomed with a waiata (song):
Powhiri 2 from Judy McKenzie on Vimeo.

Each of the other schools spoke and sang waiata, 
then we finished with the Fair Play Code 
and two more waiata:
Powhiri 3 from Judy McKenzie on Vimeo.
Powhiri 4 from Judy McKenzie on Vimeo.

We hope all tournament participants enjoy their week.

Did you billet some students for the week?
Have you attended a powhiri?
How do you welcome visiting groups to your school?

Making Our Kites

Our Social Studies topic this term was 'Flying High in Asia'.

We used the context of kite festivals as a way of learning about some of the similarities and differences between a Chinese way of life and our lives in New Zealand.

We ended the topic by researching, planning 
and making our own kites.

Take a look!

This kite is a traditional Maori kite. 

The boys wove the flax themselves.They decided to not fly it, 

that it would just be a decorative kite.

The groups used Mr Salsich's Global Kite wiki to help them with their research. Thanks Mr Salsich! 

All of the groups used bamboo as part of their kite structure.

Other materials used were fabrics, string, pictures, plastic, and bubble wrap!

The kites even flew quite well. We had a lot of fun, plus we learned a lot about working together.

Have you ever made a kite? What shape was it? What materials did you use?

A Te Reo Challenge!

Cherish the Language

Photo courtesy of Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo Māori

We hope you learned some new phrases in Te Reo from 
our first video for Maori Language Week.

We have a second video with some more phrases:

Maori Language Week 2 from Judy McKenzie on Vimeo.

Here is a little test for you. Can you translate these phrases?

(You can find the answers by watching the videos!)

1. Ka mau te wehi!

2. Aroha mai.    

3. Hoki atu, hoki atu!

4. Kia kaha!

5. Turituri

Leave us a comment with your answers.

Learning A Little Te Reo

Photo courtesy of Te Taura Whiri i Te Reo Māori


Haere mai, nau mai ki te Reefton Area School.

(Welcome to Reefton Area School)

July 23 to July 29 2012 marks Maori Language Week in 

New Zealand.

In our school we have a 'Phrase of the Fortnight' 

which we display in our rooms and practice saying and using.

We'd like to share some of our phrases with you.

Maori Language week from Judy McKenzie on Vimeo.

Watch our second video.

Do you have a phrase to share with us, in Maori or in another language?

Happy Birthday Mr Avery

Mr Avery is a special sixth grade teacher in Massachusetts, USA.

He maintains Mr Avery's Classroom Blog which is a model blog for classes around the world. Mr Avery is very talented at making videos with his students to help them understand maths concepts.

Mr Avery has been blogging with his class since late 2010 and we sometimes leave comments on each others blogs.

Saturday March 17th is a special milestone for Mr Avery. It is his...

Mr Avery's blogging buddies wanted to surprise him by getting together to create a special birthday post!

Here is a Prezi that B4 and Mrs Yollis' class, Mr Salsich's class, 4KM & 4KJ and Mrs Watson's class collaborated on.

Please leave a comment to wish Mr Avery a happy birthday!

What do you know about the number 30?


Here is the link to our video on YouTube

Maui and the Fish

Last week we shared a turn to lead the posts 

on Our World, Our Stories with the class in Belize.

The theme was Traditional Stories.

The story we share here is the Maori legend of 

'Maui and the Fish'.

There are many stories about Maui.

One of our other favourites is 'Maui and the Sun.'

You can read more about him here.

We hope you enjoy our retelling.

Legends are stories that have been told and retold and handed down over many generations.

People listened to legends long before the stories were ever written in books.

Do you think this legend is real?

How were legends useful to cultures in the past?

The World Cup Rugby competition is Starting

For the next six weeks the Rugby World Cup competition will be happening in New Zealand.

The teams have arrived, with the opening ceremony on Friday 9 September. 

Rugby is one of our favourite sports and our national team is called the All Blacks.

If you don't know about the game of rugby, you can find out more here.

Over the next few weeks the haka will be performed many times.

In Topic with Mrs Webb this term 

we have used the Rugby World Cup as a catalyst for thinking about 'Heroes and Role-Models'.

What qualities would a good role-model need?

For some more information and activities about the Rugby World Cup check out the links on our Topic Links page.

Does your country have a team playing in the 

Rugby World Cup?

Which two teams do you think will play in the final?

Who do you pick to win?

What are the popular sports in your country?

Send sticky greetings to your friends