At Montessori Rongotai, as part of our Montessori curriculum, we hold special events throughout the year where parents and whānau come together to watch their tamariki perform
These events help strengthen our connections with whānau and the wider community and are part of our Annual Management Plan and Centre Strategic Plan
. This time of year, we celebrated Matariki. Our tamariki performed songs like Tu Tere Mai Nga Iwi, Tirama Tirama, and Waiti Waita. They practiced every day for two weeks to prepare for the performance and did an amazing job at our Celebration Night in front of all the whānau.
The tamariki felt very proud of themselves, and there was big applause after their performance. We also gave the tamariki time to be creative and use their imagination by colouring worksheets and learning more about what Matariki is really about. As part of this, they attended the Matariki Special Programme at Te Papa, where they enjoyed reading Matariki pukapuka (books) and had hands-on experiences with objects related to the nine stars of the Matariki celebration. Martin, a staff member from Te Papa, helped guide the tamariki through this.
They had a blast learning about Matariki! We kaiako are really excited to see what next year’s celebrations will bring. Our kaiako, Moira, has worked hard modeling to the tamariki how to stand, sing nicely, and do the actions to the songs. Some of the tamariki also helped prepare pumpkin soup for the event—a great opportunity to develop practical life skills like kai preparation.
We’re excited to see what other events we can encourage parents to attend over the next six months.