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Like all other language weeks, te wiki o te reo Māori was celebrated at our school. First we started with our opening assembly and our senior Kapa Haka roōpu performed. The challenges were announced and everyone had a week to complete them. You can find them on the site here. Here’s our entry for the pukana challenge.
At our closing assembly, our junior Kapa Haka roōpu performed and we found out who the winners were for our challenges. Kia kaha te reo Māori!
This week we are celebrating Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. We had the chance to learn some drawing techniques from Whaea Moana, so that we could create kōwhaiwhai patterns which we turned into printing stamps. It was tricky for me, but I am so happy with how my art turned out.
The tamariki have done such a fabulous job with their art. We are so lucky to have the opportunity to explore the history of the patterns and shapes, and turn it into something we can treasure forever.
Kia ora e te iwi,
Anei tō mātou kiriata mō te Film Festival 2026. Ko te ingoa o tō mātou kiriata ko, Tūī me ngā Taniwha. E pā ana tēnei kiriata ki tētahi tama, a Tūī, me tana whakawhitinga ki tētahi aorangi rerekē, arā ko te ao o ngā Taniwha. Ki te hoki atu a Tūī ki Papatūānuku, me kimi ia i ngā taonga tapu e toru mai i ngā rangatira. Ka taea e ia? Mātakitaki mai i te haerenga a Tūī ki tuarangi!
Nā Whakapono.
Tēnā koutou e te whānau,
Mātakitaki mai i te kiriata nei!
I te Wāhanga 2 o 2026, i whakarite ngā whetū o Manawanui ki Whakamārama Atu (Explain Everything) ki ngā īPapa he kirata mō te Film Festival o ManaiaKalani 2026!
Ko te kaupapa matua mō te kiriata – Te Wehenga o Ranginui rāua ko Papatūānuku.
Ngā Kaikōrero
Ngā Kaiwhakataki – Jack-James rāua ko Atiya
Tāne Mahuta – Rakairoa
Tangaroa – Mia
Tawhitimātea – Haki
Haumia-tiketike – Ivy
Rongomātane- Tautu
Tūmatauenga – Haki
Rūaumoko – Atiya
Ngā Kaitāpikitia:
Ranginui – Ace / Raine
Papatūānuku – Ace / Raine
Tāne Mahuta – Niwa
Tangaroa – Atarangi
Tawhirimātea – Tytan
Haumia-tiketike – Vienna
Tūmatauenga – Tuua
Rūaumoko – Mama Mia
Te Ao Marama – Ivy
Whakarongo mai, mātakitaki mai…
Kia Ora Kia, my name is Zac. I am Year six. I go to St. Joseph School, Grey Lynn. The title of the film is: See You In the Future! The film is about six boys who are telling their future selves, “are you still doing the same things as you were in the past?”
This is our first ever film we have created, and it’s the first time St. Joseph School, Grey Lynn has ever been involved in the Te Purapura Ngatahi o Manaiakalani film festival!
We would like to thank the following who have made this film come to life!
Film Editor: Zac | Creators: Walter, Winter, Francis, Moses and Luke.
Nau mai ki tā mātou kiriata. Ko tō mātou tumanako kia kite koutou i te auahatanga me ngā pūkenga mīharo a ō tātou tūpuna. E mihi ana ki ngā ākonga mō tō rātou mahi ki te kiriata nei. Mātaki mai!
Tēnā tātou. Kua tae te wā mō te Ahurei Kiriata. Hūrō! Nei rā te mihi nui ki ngā tamariki o Whakaute i whakapau kaha ki te waihanga i te kiriata nei, “He Taonga Tuku Iho”.
Te tira whakatika, me te hākori: ko Paige, ko Cairo, ko Harbour, ko Nanaia. Ko Paige te ringa hopuata hoki i ētahi wā.
Te kāhui kiriwhakaari matua: ko Timothy (Koro), ko Hemi, ko Jayda (ngā mokopuna).
Te kāhui maramataka: ko Milena, Tame, Ahikā, Nanaia, Kharisma, Tangihaere, Eli, Taiaho rātou ko Joshua.
Mauriora!
We feel really excited, as this is the first time St. Joseph School, Grey Lynn, as ever submitted films to this festival in our cluster, Te Purapura Ngatahi o Manaiakalani. As film makers, this is our very first time! We had fun thinking and planning a story board for our film, but even more fun was filming!
Thank you, to the wonderful middle school actors who also had fun being part of our film. The fun part was putting it all together then filming! Gosh it was hard work!
Thank you to the following people for their hard work in thinking, planning the storyboard and filming…
Filming: Zac & Ellaina | Creators: Antoneth, Ellise (who has returned to the Phillipines) & Sian | Special Thanks – R10 Actors: Memphis, Sofia, Linsenka, Yubo, Mote, Makayla & Ezra.
Māui Ka Kā Tonu
Ko te ahi o Māui, ka kā tonu, te ingoa o te kiriata e whai ake nei. Nā tōna mahi ihumanea me tōna māia i tiki a Māui i te ahi a Mahuika mō te tangata. He kura i whakarerekē i tō tātou ao, ā, he ahi e kā tonu nei i tēnei rā.
I hanga te akomanga o Māhaki, Te Kura Amorangi o Whakawātea.
Mātakitaki mai!
What a treat! The senior classes in Rooms 5 & 6 were honoured to have the amazing Jess, a Marine Biologist from Youth Ocean Explorers, visit us and share a presentation about the wonderful and exciting work they do to care for and protect our moana in Aotearoa.
It was a fantastic opportunity for our students to learn more about our marine environment and the important role we all play in protecting our moana. Jess showed an experiment of how ‘echolocation’ can be seen/visualised using fog and a dishwashing-liquid bubble. The students were amazed to see sound waves travel and bounce back from objects, just like bats and dolphins use echoes to navigate!
Here are few pictures from Jess’s presentation.
The three videos below show Jess demonstrating ‘echolocation’.
The photo below shows how ‘echolocation’ helps whales and other moana species find their food. Our moana species are pretty ‘SMART’!
The photos below showcase the amazing work of underwater cameraman Steve Hathaway (NZ), capturing the incredible marine species that live in our moana. Our students were fascinated by these beautiful photographs!
Thank you so much, Jess! You’re amazing!
One of the highlights of this term was going on a trip to watch the live play Grease! We all travelled by bus to the theatre to watch the show. When we arrived, we had to wait for a little while as the actors and crew were getting ready.
The girls travelled on one bus with Mrs Pandey, while the boys travelled on the other bus with Mrs Hirst. Soon, it was time for us to go inside the theatre. We all sat in rows and watched the amazing performance.
Although the show was quite long, we had lots of fun watching it. We enjoyed seeing how each character had a special part to play and helped bring the story to life.
A big thank you to Whaea Saane for organising this special trip and giving us the opportunity to watch a live theatre performance. It was a wonderful experience that we will remember! 
This week, room 17 has been working really hard on adding and subtracting fractions. We have had a go at mixing denominators, which was tough! We worked on some word problems, and had a go at using some materials around our classroom to try and help us solve it. We have almost mastered this skill with a common denominator, and are getting better at reducing fractions and finding whole numbers when the numerator is higher. It has been some awesome learning, and the kids have worked SO hard! I am incredibly proud of all of them, and the excellent learning that they have been a part of!
I see people singing and dancing on the beaches. I can see fish in the sea and I can see the crabs. I want to swim with the whales. When I go to Tonga, I am going to have lots of fun.
By : Tamynah
I think everyone should visit Tonga because there are lots of little shops down the road and they are really cheap. You can swim with the whales in the sea. It will be so fun. Tonga has their own King. It has beautiful beaches and lots of yummy food. The people of Tonga are friendly and you can see them dancing and playing drums and dancing. I really want to visit Tonga.
By: Melani
Here’s our video!
Kia Orana!
We celebrated Cook Islands Language Week by exploring the story of Tapuaetai (One Foot Island)!
The children had so much fun retelling the legend using Lego, blocks, and drawings – and even recorded their retellings on the iPads! We sang the ‘īmene “Aro’a mai Te Atua iā’ku”, counted to 10 (ta’i, rua, toru…), and learned words like kia orana, ka kite, meitaki, vaka, ‘ei katu, and tīvaevae.
The children worked so hard capturing their ideas on paper and screen, and then on Friday we enjoyed a wonderful assembly filled with the sounds of drumming, music, and dance. Ask your child if they can sing a line of our song, count to 10, or share the legend of One Foot Island!
Meitaki ma’ata (thank you) for your support!
Solving Maths Problems
Explaining how we got the answer using the correct vocabulary
In recognition of the Commonwealth Games, our school had a big sports day. The sports range from: badminton, tennis, volleyball, netball and others. Our class focused on Bangladesh and conducted some research about this country. You can find out more from clicking on student names on the right hand son. Here is our short video from the day:
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