Rousing hakas and Rippa Rugby helped mark the closing day of the Connecting Communities Wairarapa holiday programme at Lakeview School yesterday.
Programme co-ordinator and Masterton District councillor Doug Bracewell said about 100 children, aged from 5-13, descended on Lakeview School yesterday and recreated their own version of the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Teams from Te Awhina Cameron Community House, Masterton Intermediate School and Lakeview School each learned the actions, and words in te reo, to a haka that was the focus of a competition in the Lakeview School hall, to establish which team could perform the most rousing rendition. Each team then joined battle on the school fields in Rippa Rugby.
Mr Bracewell said the older children were encouraged to take leadership roles for the younger children during the sporting activity, which capped an overall programme that ran through the holidays in a partnership between Masterton District Council and Wairarapa Rugby Union.
The programme was free of charge, Mr Bracewell said, and included transport to each programme venue and lunches for the children. Activities targeted children by age, and included those aged 11 and above gathering at the Henley Men's Shed on Monday and Tuesday to design, build and race miniature racing cars. Younger children tried baking, making their own lunches, enjoying art and singing at Te Awhina Cameron Community House.
