Pupils leave no stones unturned for hangi

Pupils at Featherston School got up at the crack of dawn to put down a hangi for lunch yesterday.

With a little help from adults, the whole hangi was planned and prepared by students as part of the Year 8's leadership program.

The school usually has a hangi every year for the 60 pupils .

"It's the first year they've done it by themselves," said Michelle Hawkins, Year 7 and 8 teacher at the school.

Two pupils Joseph Te Nahi, 12, and Pacer Willacy-Scott, 13, said they were tired after getting up at 4.30am to dig a pit but were looking forward to eating lunch.

"We dug the hole pretty deep, then we got all the wood and rocks and came and stacked them up," said Joseph.

The school's board of trustees supplied the meat and the female pupils prepared the trays of food.

Maori custom says only males can put the hangi down [into the earth].

Ms Hawkins said preparing the hangi took a lot work, from collecting the stones to digging the hole.

It's a good team-building exercise, she said.

"It's really good to do the hangi together, as a whanau."

The hangi was planned for Matariki, the Maori New Year, but strong winds meant the school had to postpone it.

"Today is the perfect day for it," said Ms Hawkins.

The pupils also planted trees after the hangi.