Maatariki as a national celebration has developed while I was teaching overseas, so this is still a festival that I am catching up on. However, this year, I have really enjoyed exploring Maatariki with my class. 

I used an art idea from NZ Teachers (Primary) Facebook group. It was interesting how the 3 teachers in NE all used the same idea, and produced completely different artworks with their kids. I also read a post about the names and meanings of the 9 brightest starts in the constellation. So, I decided to combine the placing the of the stars on their art with a lesson on mindfulness. I gave each child 9 star stickers and we named them one at a time and learned what they represent. The children then thought in silence about that element. It took about 30 mins to meditatively work our way through all 9 stars, so I was impressed at the patience of these little ones. 

We then followed this up by writing a Matariki wish.  

None of us in our team are strong  in our Te Reo teaching. We also have a very high number of new immigrant children who are still struggling to acquire English language proficiency. However, these same children, first generation kiwis, need to make connections with the culture of their newly adopted land. We are making the most of songs to teach what we can. Here is a list of songs as we teach them. I will update this post as new songs are taught. 

This year, 2016, I have only one child with Maori heritage in the class. It is always difficult to cover The Treaty of Waiting in a meaningful way with New Entrant children as it occurs immediately in their first week at school and there are so many things to introduce them too. I am not sure how much they are able to retain of the content about the Treaty. Instead I focus on how all our families come to New Zealand to make it our home where we can be safe and happy. This provides a natural segway into a discussion about our belonging in school ad how we can ensure that everyone has a safe and happy year in our class and on our playground.  

We made Waka and then talked about all the different ways that our families had arrived in New Zealand, but I kept bring the focus back to our shared desire to live safe and happy.