Kapa Kāhui 2023

On Thursday March 30^th 2023   2.30 – 6.30 pm,  ACCoS Te Ao Māori initiative  hosted the first Kapa Kāhui for schools in the ACCoS community and Te Ao Māori Initiative.  Epsom Normal Primary school opened their outdoor area for the event. Epsom Normal as hosts or tangata whenua prepared haka, and kaikōrero (speech) and the manuhiri responded with a student representative

Steven Van Hees and Suzanne Parkinson, two of our Across School Leaders coordinated the event. In total six schools in our Kāhui Ako took part this year. They were Auckland Normal Intermediate School, Cornwall Park District School, Epsom Normal Primary School, Kohia Terrace School, and Victoria Avenue School. We were blessed to also have Epsom Girls Grammar School showcase their entry in this year's Kapa Haka event.

Families and whanau of of the performing children attended the event and together we celebrated as a Kāhui Ako.

The masters of ceremony were Steven Van Hees and Raupō Fleet who opened the event with Karakia and  welcomed everyone. As the evening progressed, they helped build Tikanga knowledge through sharing bite sizes pieces of information and through kīwaha or local sayings.

Each school shared a short  history of the area through slides and this helped build knowledge and respect for cultural protocols of their area  and rohe. The children  shared their learning and knowledge of Te Ao Māori and understanding of Matauranga Māori  through the experiences of performance. The Kapa Kāhui helped build whanaungatanga and provided an opportunity  for schools to connect, share Māori heritage and cultures across schools and with whanau.This was seen by the massive turnout of families throughout the event.

Jane Bush, our champion in the Te Ao Māori Initiative oficially gifted the Kapa Kāhui Taonga from Ngāti Whātua to Shane Devery from Auckland Normal Intermediate who will be 2024 hosts.

Some information shared was

• The whatu/carved stone represents kotahitanga as a unification
• The carving on the whatu is the koru representing a new beginning
• The kete represents one of the three baskets of knowledge being kete-aronui (basket of pursuit) to acquire cultural knowledge through the performing art which is kapa haka
• The feathers represent Māori heritage and reinforces the whakatauki where we want everyone on this journey to soar to their highest heights to fulfil their potential “Manu Tukutuku, ma te Huruhuru ka Rere te Manu"
• The paua shell represents the different colours that make up on multicultural melting pot that acknowledges and celebrates diversity
• The whatu and the paua shell acknowledge "Ki uta Ki tai" (Land and sea) that work in unison and symbolises the relationship between ACCoS and Ngāti Whatua Orakei.

The evening concluded with a shared waiata which all the students performed together on stage. Steven and Raupō closed the event with a karakia.

Feedback from schools indicated that Māori heritage was shared in an authentic and meaningful way.

Special thanks to Epsom Normal School for hosting the venue and to Ngāti Whātua for the gifting of the Kapa Kāhui Taonga.

The event was even more successful with the grant approved by the Albert-Eden Local Board, Te Poari ā-Rohe o Albert-Eden,  and this was used towards staging.