- Te Rā o te Raukura Festival
- Partnering with EFKS NZ
- Te Matatini 2015 – Celebrating our culture together
Te Rā o te Raukura Festival
Thousands of guests turned up to enjoy the many stalls on display at the annual Te Rā o te Raukura family festival in the heart of Lower Hutt at Te Whiti Park, Waiwhetu. Over two days, 31 January and 1 February, families came together to explore locally made crafts, artefacts, clothing and delicious cuisine, and to gather information from education, health, and social service providers.
The two-day festival provided a valuable opportunity for Ministry of Education staff to engage with the community in a fun and familiar setting to promote early learning.
Parents, whānau and tamariki were welcomed into a colourful early learning space with comfortable reading areas, tables for playdough and a large Connect Four game that provided opportunities for them to play and learn together.
Information about the importance of and options for early learning was shared and questions answered. Educational resources were also available to whānau including ‘Ka Hao te Rangatahi’, NCEA calendars and student study planners, Whānau Education Action Plans and a wider array of reading material in English and Māori.
We were able to refer whānau to other educational promotional spaces at the event for further assistance with their educational questions, such as Victoria University, Kōkiri Seaview, Te Rōpu Āwhina, Te Puni Kōkiri (Get the Cred – NCEA game), and the Māori Education Trust (Scholarships).
A true sense of harmony permeated this two-day festival as tunes from the Wellington Māori Cultural Society Marae Haka on day one, and Ardijah, Annie Crummer and Bella Kalolo on day two, filled the open spaces.
Te Rā o te Raukura family festival was first staged 21 years ago at Waiwhetu Marae, Lower Hutt. As it grew, it shifted to neighbouring Te Whiti Park.
Te Rā o te Raukura is significant to the people of Waiwhetu and the tangata whenua in the Wellington Region. The ‘Raukura’ was used as a symbol of peace, love and harmony by the prophet Te Whiti o Rongomai at Parihaka. He and fellow prophet Tohu Kakahi led their people to passive resistance and patient obedience as an armed constabulary invaded the peaceful village of Parihaka on 5 November 1881.
Partnering with EFKS NZ
The Early Learning Taskforce has partnered with Ekalesia Fa’apotopotoga Kerisiano i Samoa (EFKS NZ) as part of the Pasifika Church Partnerships Strategy to explore opportunities to support EFKS NZ’s young people and their families on the education pathway.
To get the ball rolling, in May 2014 EFKS NZ held an education conference, supported by the Ministry of Education’s Pasifika Unit and the Early Learning Taskforce, for education experts in their network. The outcome of the conference was the development of the EFKS NZ Education Action Plan. The Plan outlines high-level education goals and actions to contribute to the Government’s Better Public Service goals and the Ministry’s Pasifika Education Plan. The strategy was officially presented to Minister Parata in June 2014.
From 73 churches nationwide, which reach 25,000 members, EKFS NZ initially identified 414 children who were not currently participating in ECE. By November 2014 they had already supported 146 children and their parents to enrol in early learning. The next step will be setting up playgroups in churches with significant numbers of non-participating children.
Further gains are being made as a result of the partnership with the Early Learning Taskforce. EFKS NZ have established a national trust to drive a more collaborative and co-operative approach to achieve their mission ‘to realise the potential of our People’. EFKS NZ are making inroads into partnering with other government agencies to explore activities such as rheumatic fever awareness and social housing.
Te Matatini 2015 – Celebrating our culture together
Earlier this month Ōtautahi Christchurch played host to a five-day kapa haka spectacular – Te Matatini 2015 – the ultimate showcase of Māori performing arts, iwi pride and tough competition!
Daily crowds of 12,000 gathered at Pūtaringamotu (Hagley Park) to watch performances by the top 45 kapa haka groups from across Aotearoa and Australia. Parents, caregivers and schools took the opportunity to immerse thousands of kids of all ages and cultures in the colours, sights and sounds of the festival. It was a chance to encourage budding kapa haka performers, to excite Māori language speakers, and to expose young New Zealanders to a modern expression of our identity and culture.
The Ministry of Education stand was a hive of activity promoting education and distributing resources and information directly to parents, whānau and tamariki. Particularly popular were the pānui pukapuka (Māori language reading) sessions and tā moko stamps. The Ministry also took the opportunity to identify children not engaged in early learning and to assist whānau to find services that will meet their needs.
Over 8,000 Māori language picture books and 750 Ka Hao Te Rangatahi activity and information packs were given out to children, parents and grandparents.
The Ministry has established a strategic partnership with Te Matatini – the organisation charged with running the Te Matatini festival – and will continue to be involved in regional and national kapa haka events over the coming years. We want the same excitement, passion, pride, identity and commitment demonstrated at Te Matatini to be experienced by every child in education. To do this well, parents and whānau, communities and educators need to work together – and the Ministry needs to support this.
Keep an eye out for Māori cultural and kapa haka events near you. The next national kapa haka event will be for primary schools and will be hosted in the Rangitāne region later this year. The next Te Matatini Festival will be hosted by Ngāti Kahungunu and will be held in the Hawke’s Bay in 2017.