Our Heritage Evening at BestStart Tawa South was a beautiful opportunity to bring our whānau together and celebrate the many cultures that make up our centre community.
Through shared kai, cultural clothing, performances and conversations, families shared a little of themselves and helped us learn more about one another.
We are so grateful to everyone who joined us and contributed. The time, thought and aroha behind each dish, performance and shared tradition made the evening special. Having time together beyond our everyday drop-offs and pick-ups gave whānau and kaiako the opportunity to strengthen relationships and make new connections.
Making connections to learning
For our tamariki, experiences like these offer meaningful opportunities to learn about themselves, their friends and the wider world. Seeing their family’s culture welcomed and celebrated helps children develop pride in their identity. Exploring other traditions also encourages curiosity, respect and an appreciation of different ways of being. This connects closely with the Belonging | Mana Whenua strand of Te Whāriki.
When the languages, cultures and traditions of home have a place within our centre, we strengthen the connections between children’s worlds and support their sense of belonging. The evening also reflected Family and Community | Whānau Tangata, a principle of Te Whāriki that recognises the integral role of family and community in children’s learning.
Our whānau bring knowledge, experiences and perspectives that enrich our curriculum and help us understand each child more deeply. Communication through shared experiences Our Heritage Evening created opportunities for Communication | Mana Reo to come to life. Conversations about clothing, food and family traditions gave tamariki meaningful reasons to listen, ask questions and encounter new words. Performances offered opportunities to experience how people communicate through movement, gesture, music and language. For our youngest tamariki, communication also happens through shared attention, facial expressions and the responses of familiar adults.
Being included in these experiences supports participation long before children can express themselves through spoken words. These shared experiences can continue to inspire conversations, storytelling and play as we revisit the evening together.
Growing our community
Above all, our Heritage Evening was about relationships. Coming together helped us build a stronger understanding of one another and celebrate what each family brings to Tawa South.
Thank you to our wonderful whānau for sharing your cultures so generously. Together, we are creating a learning community where tamariki can feel connected, know their identity matters and grow alongside others with curiosity and aroha.