This week marks five years since a local primary school incorporated te reo Maori lessons into its school radio station.
National Maori Language Week sparked the idea among staff at Te Akau ki Papamoa Primary School to teach te reo Maori through its school radio station, Radio TAKP, said principal
Bruce Jepsen.
The lessons are visual as well as oral, with speakers and television screens in all classrooms. With the help of teachers, students organise the content and run the lessons three times a day. The material is also available to the wider community who live near the school.
Students Lui Tuilaee, 6, and Isaiah Jepsen, 9, were regular DJs on the station. Isaiah had been DJing for five years, since the radio station had been established, and Lui said he had been on the decks for two years.
"It's pretty fun, my favourite part is the wa wero [challenge] part, where people win stuff," Isaiah said.