Moana Kake-Tuffley, tumuaki at Te Pi’ipi’nga Kākano Mai I Rangiātea
Here at Te Pi’ipi’nga Kākano Mai I Rangiātea in Taranaki we’ve been celebrating Puanga for about 12 years. It has developed over time into a whole week of activities, culminating in a noho kura (overnight stay at school) before we head off for a break over the matariki holiday.
Some of the events we’ve had include a tuakana-teina day, a pēpi morning, a disco set up by older students (of course with waiata in te reo and languages other than English), a kapa haka competition, a pampering day for our kaumatua and an art auction.
At the pēpi morning, all the babies in our community born in the past year are invited to our kura. Each pēpi is introduced by a teina who knows them by giving their pēpēha and sharing the origin of their name. Across the kura each class or syndicate will make a taonga for a pēpi – it might be waiata pukapuka, bath salts for māmā, personalised bibs, poi, te rākau or kawakawa balm.
As part of the overnight stay we have a wānganga, where we share what Puanga means to us and write down our goals for the year to come. Before sunrise we have a hautapu where we karakia the stars and offer koha to the atua by giving things connected to the different whetū. Then it is time for a hāngī, organised by the seniors. It’s a very early start and pretty full-on kai for that time of the morning, so after clean-up everyone is ready to head home after a long week.
We are really fortunate to have local people that we can call on who have taken us through training around what Puanga means to us as a region and a people. It has made us able to put our ‘Rangiatea’ flavour into what we do for Puanga. It’s just a really wonderful way to start the new year.
Emma Haves-Jonathan, kaiako at Tawa Intermediate
Ko Taupiri tōku maunga
Ko Waikato tōku awa
Ko Tainui tōku waka
Ko Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Awa ōku iwi
Ko Hukanui me Tuteao ōku marae
Nō Pōneke ahau
Ko Emma Haves-Jonathan tōku ingoa
For the last two years, Tawa Intermediate has made Matariki a significant focus within the school, using it as an opportunity to reflect and celebrate te ao Māori. Last year, I organised a school hāngī for our tauira and staff as a way for everyone to come together. For many, it was their first time experiencing a hāngī, making the event even more special and meaningful.
We were very fortunate to have wonderful support from our whānau. Many offered resources such as irons and baskets, while others came in to help with preparation and setting up the hāngī before dawn. Our staff were absolutely amazing! Not only did they organise the kai, but also showed up bright and early to help with laying it down, supporting the whole event from start to finish. It was a great experience for all.
I lead a Māori rangatahi programme and my favourite part of this celebration was seeing them get involved and arrange the planning and promoting beforehand. They made posters to put up around the school and spoke at assembly to spread awareness on what Matariki means for us and what we can do to celebrate at home. Our tauira enjoyed the kai preparation and serving our hapori at the end. It was a great way to show manaakitanga and be part of something that embraces who they are as Māori.
Memory Lyon, tumuaki at Mangaweka School
Every two years we host a mini festival at our local kura for our hapori – with stalls, live music, kapa haka, a large art project and a hāngī with kai our tamariki have grown in their garden club. We have fire pits to provide warmth, hot kai and all of our spaces are filled with wholesome activities whānau can do together, such as sharing their aspirations for the year ahead (Hiwa-i-te-rangi whetū) or remembering our loved ones who have passed away (Pōhutakawa whetū). We light the place up with coloured lights, and local musicians perform, it is vibrant and magical seeing our kura transformed into a wonderland!
Mangaweka is a small village and events like this naturally bring us all together. Our local Playcentre take part, joining us the day before to prepare the hāngī and create Matariki decorations. The tuakana teina relationships are beautiful. Mōkai Pātea, our local iwi, also tautoko our celebration. In past years they have donated kai and helped to serve our hapori. This year we have decided to celebrate together with Mataroa School, another rural school in our rohe.
By preparing and hosting this event, our tamariki are actively serving their community, learning what it means to host, manaaki and look after people.
Matariki is a refreshing time, it gently forces us to slow down and to reflect on our curriculum through the eyes of Tawhirimatea and beautiful matauranga that glitters in each of the stars of Matariki ma Puanga. This learning integrates science, music, haputanga, hauora, maths, reading and writing, the arts and all of the key competencies described in our curriculum – all the while bringing people together.
Simon Waymouth, tumuaki at Lake Tekapo School
In the words of one of our students, Matariki is about “learning from those that have come before us by respecting and sharing the things that bring whānau together”. This sentiment has been a driver at Lake Tekapo School and has been supported through our close association with the Dark Sky Project (Ngāi Tahu) and local businesses. Over the years we have hosted community events such as poi making, rokoā (Māori medicine), wood carving and a variety of prestigious speakers.
From a school’s perspective, Matariki has allowed us to better understand our renowned world heritage night sky, while honouring both those who have come before us and the season to come. This is captured through the children drawing, crafting and writing representations of the whetū and setting personal goals in relation to the Māori wellbeing model of Te Whare Tapa Whā.
This year, the school has focussed on the 11 cultures from our 37 tamariki, fitting in well with the 2025 theme of celebrating diversity, inclusion and togetherness. The school, kindergarten and stakeholders will come together for a community meal showcasing our cultures. The children will be performing at Tekapo Springs Winter Market, decking out the shops with lanterns and snowflakes and continuing to learn and understand through guidance and knowledge of our partnership with the good people of Dark Sky Project.
Sonya Hockley, tumuaki at Auckland Point School
At our kura, Matariki is a time for reflection, connection and celebration that brings our whole school community together.
In the lead-up to Matariki, students learn about the Matariki star cluster and what each star represents – such as food, wellbeing, reflection and the environment. This learning is grounded in our role as kaitiaki and our tamariki reflect on how they can care for their community and whenua, not just during Matariki, but all year round.
We have a cultural creative day where students create beautiful lanterns which they carry in a lantern walk which is a wonderful way to bring everyone together.
For our Matariki assembly we sing waiata that celebrate the values of kotahitanga and whanaungatanga. After the assembly we share soup with our whānau. The soup is made from vegetables donated by each class and made by tamariki and staff. It is one of the highlights of our celebrations and a chance for our students to show manaakitanga.
As we look to the stars of Matariki, we also look to each other – with gratitude, with purpose and with hope.
