Student voice

The hills look after us and keep us safe. 

This is a place for animals to live. We need to look after it. 

All of our different maunga

The mountains that represent us

Matua Hautere named Maungatapu

A maunga is a resting ground

To stand tall

A place to visit and have fun

It’s our brothers and sisters from the Pacific

Where we came from - Hawaiki

There’s lots of different words. The words are different languages

We have so many people from different countries

We could learn from each other by sharing our languages and cultures

Our languages make us different in our own ways - our cultures

Language tells us who we are

My mum and dad and me were born in Nepal. I saw my home language.

The stars represent hope. Hope that it’ll be a brighter future for our country

It looks like a river - keep on trying, always go down the river

Our different cultures - connects to where we are born, where we all come from

This painting reminds me of my special clothes when we go to church. Respect God just like [we] respect people at school.

At church my mum always wears special clothes because she wants to respect God and my mum is so thankful for food and birthdays like my dad. He is a good dad and mum too.

Everything flows neatly - our class/whānau never stops

There are 8 koru in the design and 8 iwi

It looks like it is a sun shining and it looks like Tama-nui-te-rā

Water, awa

It represents all the people who’ve travelled to New Zealand

The four winds - ngā hau e whā

Navigation - remembering stuff in your head 

How much effort it took to come here to NZ

Different waka arrived at different times - paddles, sails, engines, flight

My grandma went on a plane. She flew to a place far away. I haven’t seen her for a long time. I miss my grandma.

Lighthouse - a sign of where you are

When I went to the Boulder bank with my family and friends I was looking for shelter but I nearly fell off. But finally I found shelter. The shelter was made out of sticks.

I swim here. This is a fun place. We need to look after this so everyone can use it.

There are tuna in the awa, they are kaitiaki

The harakeke can be made into bags and shoes

A food ground - mahinga kai

Eels are like waka going down the streams just like when Matua Hautere was going down the waterways

Me and my family were next to the river then we had a picnic we saw an eel swimming. After that my mum heard the river it was special and it was called Maitahi.