Castlecliff School last week held its first full production in 10 years.
Parents, whanau and friends crowded into the school on Thursday afternoon for the production of Te Ika-a-Maui.
Principal Kathie Ellery said the production was the school's way of reporting to families on the arts.
"Rather than writing reports about music, dance, drama and visual art, we decided to put them together and invite whanau to see what their tamariki have achieved for themselves.
"It was easy to ignite passion and enthusiasm in our students, as the story of Maui has played a significant role in our te reo Maori and tikanga ako [learning]," Ms Ellery said.
She said Castlecliff School had been a "hive of activity" over the past month, getting ready for the production.
The production's music was played by the students, all of whom have a music lesson each week on keyboards, guitars, ukuleles, triangles, xylophones, drums or stones. The backdrop and props were designed and painted by the students. Dance has been a new addition to the popular "community curriculum" and the junior students showed their grasp of rhythm and body movement as water and fish. The seniors carried the bulk of the acting parts, with Maui and his brothers giving powerful performances.
Marie McFarland Kindergarten and Castlecliff's Your Playgroup were the audience in the morning for the dress rehearsal. In the afternoon, the school hall was packed, with close to 100 in the audience - including all the kids from Mangamahu School - for the main show, Ms Ellery said.
"The school staff did an amazing job, bringing all the parts of the production together, with long hours put in behind the scenes after school and in weekends. Jessie Kahukura and Hemi Gray, both strong speakers of te reo Maori, were able to make sure the students benefited from their expertise in things Maori and helped them polish their performance. "This production has been a fantastic and fun way to celebrate our learning, and hopefully will become an annual event," Ms Ellery said.