Marae Trip

Today was a special day at Halcombe School.  We visited our local marae, Taumata O Te Ra.  For many of us, this was the first time we had ever visited a marae.  We were met by Mr Kereama, who talked to us about what happens during a powhiri.  He also shared a lot of knowledge about the whare and the special carvings and paintings inside.  We all thought it was fabulous.  Here is what some of us had to say:

• I enjoyed seeing all the special carvings in the whare.  Kyle.
• I thought the tukutuku panels were awesome.  You don't see things like that very often.  Tammy.
• I liked the carvings, because they were intricate and I found it interesting to learn about them.  George.
• I really enjoyed the stories about the carvings.  Quaid.
• My favourite part was seeing the colourful paintings, that were painted in lots of lovely colours, not just the traditional red, black and white.  Jaxson.
• I enjoyed learning about the traditions from Mr Kereama.  Nelly.
• I thought it was cool when Mr Kereama blew the conch shell.  It sounded really loud and it echoed!  Tyler.
• My favourite part was seeing all the carvings and learning about how long they took to carve!  Trevor.
• The best part was looking up at the ceilings, seeing all the colours and learning about their meanings.  Jasmine.
• What I liked about the carvings, was that they were dedicated to people.  Holly.
• I loved learning about what the carvings meant.  They didn't have books in the old days, so carvings were used to tell stories.  All the carvings are equally important.  Logan.
• I liked the paintings on the ceiling, and learning about what they meant.  Blair.
• I really enjoyed looking at all the different carvings and seeing all the family names carved into them.  Olivia C.

These photos are of the outside of the whare:

Here are some of the carvings, tukutuku panels and kowhaiwhai paintings from inside the whare:

 

 

Here we are, sitting in front of the magnificent back wall of the whare:

Here is the Senior Team in front of the whare.  We are really looking forward to coming back and staying the night later in the term:

If you'd like to find out more about Taumata O Te Ra marae, click on the link below:

Taumata O Te Ra