School+News


 * 1500 plants in 1 hour for Matariki - 26th June 2013 **

For the seventh year running Te Kura Kaupapa Maori O Te Rawhitiroa has lead a planting effort along the Waitaua River in Tikipunga to celebrate Matariki. This year saw 1500 native plants planted over a 200 meter stretch alongside the Kamo Pony Club grounds. The keen planters were young and old from Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Rawhitiroa, Tikipunga High School's year 9's, //**Kamo Primary School's E Team**//, and Akerama Marae's NorthTec Sustainable Rural Development Programme. It took less than 1 hour for the 171 participants to get 1500 native plants in the ground. Most of the plants were harakeke (flax), ti kouka (cabbage tree), whau and titoki which are well suited to wet areas.

The day was organised by the Whitebait Connection and the Kura, but as with any community event there was lots of help. Northland Regional Council helped organise the day. ASB Community Trust and Whangarei District Council have supported the ongoing running of He Kakano, where many of the plants were ecosourced, and propogated by students of the kura under the teachings of Matua Buck Cullen. These plants are grown with a purpose – to revive the Mauri of our local waterways. As co-organiser Nicki Wakefield from the Whitebait Connection told the crowd on the day “These plants will shade the water and keep it cool for the life in the river, as well as hold back the soil and runoff, helping to stop it getting down into the harbour”.

Participants were taught how to 'haka' the plants so they don't get washed away in floods, and after the job was done, everyone was thankful for a sausage sizzle shouted by the kura.

The Waitaua starts at the feet of Hurapaki and Parakiore Mountains and flows over the Whangarei Falls into the Hatea River. //**“This is our river and we are making it healthy” a student from Kamo Primary told some parent helpers.**//

Matariki Taiao Planting along the Waitaua started in 2006 at Whangarei Falls and has moved upstream every year to shade 1.1 km of the river with over 7000 plants.

**Rugby World Cup 2011 - Visit from the Canadian Rugby Team**

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Click the play button above to watch the video as seen on CNTV

**Our new Astro Turf - 2013**

Press Release

Title: 1500 plants in 1 hour for Matariki

For the seventh year running Te Kura Kaupapa Maori O Te Rawhitiroa has lead a planting effort along the Waitaua River in Tikipunga to celebrate Matariki. This year saw 1500 native plants planted over a 200 meter stretch alongside the Kamo Pony Club grounds. The keen planters were young and old from Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Rawhitiroa, Tikipunga High School's year 9's, Kamo Primary School's E Team, and Akerama Marae's NorthTec Sustainable Rural Development Programme. It took less than 1 hour for the 171 participants to get 1500 native plants in the ground. Most of the plants were harakeke (flax), ti kouka (cabbage tree), whau and titoki which are well suited to wet areas.

The day was organised by the Whitebait Connection and the Kura, but as with any community event there was lots of help. Northland Regional Council helped organise the day. ASB Community Trust and Whangarei District Council have supported the ongoing running of He Kakano, where many of the plants were ecosourced, and propogated by students of the kura under the teachings of Matua Buck Cullen. These plants are grown with a purpose – to revive the Mauri of our local waterways. As co-organiser Nicki Wakefield from the Whitebait Connection told the crowd on the day “These plants will shade the water and keep it cool for the life in the river, as well as hold back the soil and runoff, helping to stop it getting down into the harbour”.

Participants were taught how to 'haka' the plants so they don't get washed away in floods, and after the job was done, everyone was thankful for a sausage sizzle shouted by the kura.

The Waitaua starts at the feet of Hurapaki and Parakiore Mountains and flows over the Whangarei Falls into the Hatea River. “This is our river and we are making it healthy” a student from Kamo Primary told some parent helpers.

Matariki Taiao Planting along the Waitaua started in 2006 at Whangarei Falls and has moved upstream every year to shade 1.1 km of the river with over 7000 plants. Title: 1500 plants in 1 hour for Matariki

For the seventh year running Te Kura Kaupapa Maori O Te Rawhitiroa has lead a planting effort along the Waitaua River in Tikipunga to celebrate Matariki. This year saw 1500 native plants planted over a 200 meter stretch alongside the Kamo Pony Club grounds. The keen planters were young and old from Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Rawhitiroa, Tikipunga High School's year 9's, Kamo Primary School's E Team, and Akerama Marae's NorthTec Sustainable Rural Development Programme. It took less than 1 hour for the 171 participants to get 1500 native plants in the ground. Most of the plants were harakeke (flax), ti kouka (cabbage tree), whau and titoki which are well suited to wet areas.

The day was organised by the Whitebait Connection and the Kura, but as with any community event there was lots of help. Northland Regional Council helped organise the day. ASB Community Trust and Whangarei District Council have supported the ongoing running of He Kakano, where many of the plants were ecosourced, and propogated by students of the kura under the teachings of Matua Buck Cullen. These plants are grown with a purpose – to revive the Mauri of our local waterways. As co-organiser Nicki Wakefield from the Whitebait Connection told the crowd on the day “These plants will shade the water and keep it cool for the life in the river, as well as hold back the soil and runoff, helping to stop it getting down into the harbour”.

Participants were taught how to 'haka' the plants so they don't get washed away in floods, and after the job was done, everyone was thankful for a sausage sizzle shouted by the kura.

The Waitaua starts at the feet of Hurapaki and Parakiore Mountains and flows over the Whangarei Falls into the Hatea River. “This is our river and we are making it healthy” a student from Kamo Primary told some parent helpers.

Matariki Taiao Planting along the Waitaua started in 2006 at Whangarei Falls and has moved upstream every year to shade 1.1 km of the river with over 7000 plants.