Gisborne Herald
  • Gisborne Herald Home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport

Locations

  • Gisborne
  • Bay of Plenty
  • Hawke's Bay

Media

  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Premium
Home / Gisborne Herald

Students bring Manutūkē te reo story to the stage

Kim Parkinson
By Kim Parkinson
Arts, entertainment and education reporter·Gisborne Herald·
21 Sep, 2023 10:06 PMQuick Read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌

Subscriber benefit

The ability to gift paywall-free articles is a subscriber only benefit. See more offers by clicking the button below.

Already a subscriber?  Sign in here
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Te Whānau Reo Māori o Manutūkē students perform in a full dress rehearsal for their production Ki Tua o Te Ārai — the story of the history of the school. This scene is  the portrayal of a time before the school opened in 1885 with dancers moving to the powerful music of Maisey Rika. From left are Aio Hollis, Ahenata Cotter-Luke, Te Aorangi Waihape-Matthews. Back: Roger Wihonga ( centre) and Roamin Barbarich.   Picture by Liam Clayton
Te Whānau Reo Māori o Manutūkē students perform in a full dress rehearsal for their production Ki Tua o Te Ārai — the story of the history of the school. This scene is the portrayal of a time before the school opened in 1885 with dancers moving to the powerful music of Maisey Rika. From left are Aio Hollis, Ahenata Cotter-Luke, Te Aorangi Waihape-Matthews. Back: Roger Wihonga ( centre) and Roamin Barbarich. Picture by Liam Clayton

Te Whānau Reo Māori o Manutūkē students perform in a full dress rehearsal for their production Ki Tua o Te Ārai — the story of the history of the school. This scene is the portrayal of a time before the school opened in 1885 with dancers moving to the powerful music of Maisey Rika. From left are Aio Hollis, Ahenata Cotter-Luke, Te Aorangi Waihape-Matthews. Back: Roger Wihonga ( centre) and Roamin Barbarich. Picture by Liam Clayton

Music, dance and storytelling brought history to life in Ki Tua o Te Ārai — a production performed by students of Te Whānau Reo Māori o Manutūkē at   War Memorial Theatre in Gisborne this week.

Their experience in kapa haka gave the performers from years 1 to 12 a confidence on stage as they set about telling the story of the history of the school which opened in 1885 originally as Te Ārai Native School.

It told of the time when Māori language was prohibited at school through to today where 120 students are part of a total immersion unit called Te Whānau Reo Māori.

The students this term have been learning about the history of the school which they turned into a production featuring songs, dance and narrative.

Manutūkē is a dual medium English and te reo Māori school.

Keep up to date with the day's biggest stories

Sign up to our daily curated newsletter for the day's top stories straight to your inbox.
Please email me competitions, offers and other updates. You can stop these at any time.
By signing up for this newsletter, you agree to NZME’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In 1986 a Level 1 immersion Māori unit — Te Whānau o Reo Māori — was opened.

It began a critical and unique change to the school — a dual medium option that has become the desired choice for the majority of its students.

The show celebrates their 36-year journey as a dual medium school, with each class group contributing to the programme.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The junior school performed to the Kōhanga Reo National Anthem — Kua Tipu Rā — to symbolise the beginning of the movement in the 1980s.

The kura will be taking part in the national primary schools kapa haka competition Te Mana Kuratahi in Nelson later this year.

Manutūkē School’s philosophy is to build resilient, adaptable, and innovative children who know who they are, can walk in all worlds and are confident in themselves.

The production was a reflection of this, giving the students a chance to shine on stage while telling their story.

Behind it all is a desire to recognise the work done by elders who enabled the reality for generations to flourish in their Māoritanga in this world.

Subscriber benefit

The ability to gift paywall-free articles is a subscriber only benefit. See more offers by clicking the button below.

Already a subscriber?  Sign in here
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Gisborne Herald

Gisborne Herald

Nāti Growth marketing mānuka honey products to UAE and Europe

Gisborne Herald

Kiwi couple hit centenarian milestone with royal greetings

Gisborne Herald

How Gisborne plans to engage youth voters in the local body elections


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Recommended for you

All Blacks v France third test: All you need to know
All Blacks

All Blacks v France third test: All you need to know

CEO caught in ‘affair’ at Coldplay concert under investigation
World

CEO caught in ‘affair’ at Coldplay concert under investigation

UK sanctions 18 spies in largest move against Russian intelligence
World

UK sanctions 18 spies in largest move against Russian intelligence

Afternoon quiz: Which author wrote the novel The Great Gatsby?
New Zealand

Afternoon quiz: Which author wrote the novel The Great Gatsby?

Watch: Waikato jockey's mates ride pull wheelies on motorway
New Zealand

Watch: Waikato jockey's mates ride pull wheelies on motorway

Three teenagers die in head-on collision in northern Queensland
World

Three teenagers die in head-on collision in northern Queensland



Latest from Gisborne Herald

Nāti Growth marketing mānuka honey products to UAE and Europe
Gisborne Herald

Nāti Growth marketing mānuka honey products to UAE and Europe

Ngāti Porou's commercial arm has high ambitions for its new brand launch worldwide.

18 Jul 06:00 PM
Kiwi couple hit centenarian milestone with royal greetings
Gisborne Herald

Kiwi couple hit centenarian milestone with royal greetings

18 Jul 05:00 PM
How Gisborne plans to engage youth voters in the local body elections
Gisborne Herald

How Gisborne plans to engage youth voters in the local body elections

18 Jul 06:00 AM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Gisborne Herald
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Gisborne Herald
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search