“It was a really nice way to welcome all our new and old families to the centre.”
Senior teacher Brenda Spick says while the event was about Puanga, it was also an opportunity for families to meet centre staff in an informal setting.
“It breaks the ice of being a teacher to the family. It helped build those relationships with families. When there is a strong relationship between whānau and teacher it creates a nice foundation which can only grow stronger.”
Rose says learning about Māori culture is a key part of the childcare centre’s curriculum.
“At the moment we’re learning about the star Hiwa-i-te-rangi, the star associated with granting wishes and helping with our aspirations. As a centre we talked about what we can acknowledge from the year that’s past but also what we want moving forward.”
She says the children have also learnt about Waitī, the star related to water.
“We’ve been teaching them about the creatures in our saltwater and freshwater. It’s been great to teach our tamariki about the different stars in the Matariki cluster and what they mean.”
The pupils aren’t the only ones learning, with Rose and Brenda both learning about Puanga. Brenda says since she and Rose are originally from Auckland, where Matariki is visible in the night sky, they’ve also been learning about Puanga.
“It’s been a whole centre experience. Learning about Māori culture is important to us. It’s something we want our children to learn.”
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