Te Whare Kiwi's Assembly

 Story Telling Through Dance

Paparore School has two large carvings at the main entrance by the office. The carvings on our Pou tell the stories about our local area and the history of the school. One tells significant stories from the West Coast and the other from the East Coast. We have loved learning about the stories told on our Pou. 

Te Kakano, Te Pihi and Te Putake each performed a dance about a part of the Eastern Pou. Our dances were created and directed by clever Miss Koland. Last Friday lots of people watched our spectacular  performances and we were very proud of our efforts! 

Te Kakano class presented a dance about a wheke in the Rangaunu harbour. The wheke turned into Puwheke Maunga. First we learned the poem and then practised very hard to perfect our dance. We made and decorated cool octopus masks and wore ribbons on our wrists for octopus arms.

The Fearless Wheke                                              

In the Rangaunu harbour                                               

Down beneath the sea,

Many wriggly wheke                             

Jiggle merrily.

Wriggling, jiggling

With the currents they float,                                                    

Up and down the eastern coast.

Now, the story tells us long ago

Down, in the, Rangaunu,

One fearless wheke, took a massive breath        

And he grew, and he grew and he grew! 

Wider than a rugby field,

Taller than a tree,

The octopus became a mountain

At the edge of the sea. 

Puwheke te maunga

Joined to sea and land

With eight long arms

Reaching out on rock  and sand.

So, whenever you visit Puwheke

Remember what happened to the little wheke.            

This enchanting story belongs to you and me.  

Carved on our pou, for all to see . . .

 . . . it’s our history!

Te Pihi's dance told the story about the annual migration of the godwit to Alaska to breed, and the return journey back to new Zealand.

 

Te Putake's dance told the story of the ancestor Tuwhakatere and his crippled son Hoka, who secretly went off to join his brother in battle and died.