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Celebrating matariki was amazing and fun!
Last week when matariki started. I was so excited. And our teacher told us that we were going to Te Oro. When school ended I went in the car and told my dad that we were going to a place called Te Oro. I was so excited I kept on talking about it and I couldn’t wait for Tuesday so I went to sleep early. Because I couldn’t wait to go to Te Oro.
First when I was at school our teacher told us that we were walking. We made sure we got our jackets. Because it might rain. Once we came out of our classroom we lined up together with room one, nine and three. We all lined up together when we saw a late classmate but she came in time. That time we were all buddying up with someone. My buddy was Aaliyah. When Skylar came she put her bag in the library. Once she came outside the person she buddy up with was called Akenza.
Next we started walking to a valley way and our teacher Mrs Kumar said we could talk to our buddy but not too loud. So I started talking to my buddy about things. I started talking about how it would be inside and what we would do inside. When we still started walking it started to rain a bit. So I put my hood on until it stopped spitting. Once we reached Te Oro we went inside. Once we went inside there was a person that greeted us and introduced herself. Her name was whaea Kelly and whaea Kahu. She told us to take off our shoes and wait for someone to come in.
Then once we heard the singing we all came in but the girls had to go in first and the boys had to go in second. Once we came in we sat in a line so we all sat in a line. Then one by one all the people on the chairs started to introduce themselves. They said they were all born in Glen Innes and they told us all of their names. After that Whaea Kahu split us into three groups. One was for weaving, rock paint and clay painting.
I was in rock painting but we didn’t do rock painting first we had to draw first. We had to divide our paper into four pieces so we could draw four patterns. Once we got our pencils and paper ready we opened up the paper with four boxes. Then Whaea Kelly grabbed a white board marker and told us to draw a Koru, Pikopiko, Mangopare, Niho taniwha and a hammer head. After doing all the drawing we had to stand up from our chairs that we were sitting on. Then Wheae Kelly told us to follow her and we sat down on a mat we couldn’t all fit on because it was a little mat we sat on. Then she brang a basket of rocks. She told us these rocks are not just rocks she said they were treasure and she said once we receive our rock we can’t throw it or drop it. Finally we all got a rock each and we went back to our table without dropping it.
Finally we got to paint our rocks. I tried to paint a flower but it went messy instead of good. And then we ran out of time but I added glitter before we ran out of time. After that we sat on the big mat because we had to talk about what we did with our rocks, clays and weaving. The first group was our group. We were really shy to talk and go up but three people we went up with were shy. Then we went sit down and the people that did the clay some people were really shy there but then some stood up and gave a thank message and talked about what they did with the clay. Then the people that were doing the weaving came up. Only one of our classmates was doing the weaving and she was with the rest of the juniors. They all stood up and went off the carpet. Some of them were shy but were able to talk a bit then we all clapped for them. Then we all lined up and walked back to school. When we went back to school we made a marae. We made the top of the roof and we were the first group.
We made patterns before colouring our roof. The pattern we made was a pikopiko. We made them upside down and the right side up. We kept doing the same pattern upside down and right side up. Once we were done we had to colour our roof. The colour we used was black, red, yellow, and blue. Once we were done we gave our top roof to our teacher Mrs. Kumar. When the group with the other roof of the marae was done we stuck the roof together. After doing the roof the other team doing the side of the wall was done doing their pattern. The colour they mostly used was green and pink. Once everyone was done and coloured every part of the marae we stuck all the pieces together. It looked so cool when it was displayed on the wall.
After that once school was over me and my sibling asked my dad if we could go to the Matariki lights. And he said yes he said we had to go change before going to the Matariki lights. I changed into my pyjamas and it was so comfy. After changing we walked to the lights. I was riding on my skateboard and then I slipped. I said ouch! And said it hurted when I stood up I went back onto the skateboard and carried on. Then my pyjamas got stuck in the skateboard and I fell again. And then I said ouch again but a little bit loud. Once we reached the lights I went and got a hot chocolate because it was all free. And then when I was not looking a bit and then a person bumped into me and spilt the hot chocolate on me. And then I started to cry because it was hot and it hurted. Then my brother came and said are you ok I said yes. Then I got another hot chocolate and it was delicious. It was as yummy as an Ice cream with marshmallows on it. When I went inside the Marae it was so loud. It was as loud as an elephant in a zoo. When I was inside there was a dance floor there. The challenge was if you could dance the best and most energetic would win a prize. I didn’t join because I was too shy. After ten to twenty minutes I went on the dance floor. After dancing I decided to get face paint from a lady on a chair she told me if I wanted stars or seas. And I picked stars after doing the stars and the dark sky on my head. She took a picture of my head to show the results. She said it was good and I said it was amazing. But when my dog came she started barking. She was barking like a wolf! Wolf! Then she stopped.
When we went to Te Oro and Matariki it was so fun and amazing. I wish I could go again but with all of my friends and family. I saw some of my friends and I played with them. It was so amazing to play and hang out with my friends and family. It was so amazing and really fun I was happy to be able to bring my dog with me. I learnt that matariki is about spending time with your family and even having fun! I like how I celebrated matariki at this school because my old school doesn’t celebrate matariki.