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Matariki 2020 in Welcome Bay
Over the last month the tamariki at BestStart Welcome Bay have been immersed in learning about Matariki. They have been engaged in learning activities such as kite making, making lanterns, starry sky collage, starry patterns in sand, curling harakeke, origami stars and weaving and constructing a box play storyboard all about the legend of the 3 whales – Te Purakau o nga totoru e 3.
We feel so blessed to have Whaea Mina join our team in the Pohutukawa room and she is fluent in Te Reo Maori. Mina has been teaching our Tamariki a lot of Maori language and Maori legends.
The children have learned all about the local legend of the 3 whales, both in Te Reo and English. One of our 4 year olds has also learned this story off by heart and can recite it back to us! Ka Pai to mahi!
On Friday night 26 June We had our annual Matariki Whanau evening. This was another huge success. Our Whanau and Tamariki enjoyed a range of Matariki activities including rock painting, glitter galaxy playdough, fishing, weaving and more! We had a Matariki themed photo booth, a delicious shared Kai and a Disco.
Tying in beautifully with Matariki we announced our new Key learning groups for our Preschool. The learning groups are broken down into 3 developmental age groups 2-3, 3-4, 4-5 year olds and are named after the 3 whales; Hikurangi (Baby whale), Mangatawa (Mama Whale), and Kopukairoa (Papa whale). Learning experiences are planned and designed specifically around these age groups, with their own Key teachers so that we can foster and cater to our diverse learning needs.