Even with all the disruptions (adding Covid into the mix too), our educators delivered programmes to 5567 students during the year. Our most popular primary school programme in 2023 was “Pānia and Moremore”, exploring how Pānia Reef got its name, who she was, and the kaitiaki role Moremore plays around Ahuriri.
For intermediate students, the “Hangarau me te Māori: Māori and Technology” programme delves into early Māori tools and their adaptation to modern tools. Students then create their tools using natural resources.
The new programme, “The Great Ahuriri Escape”, was a hit with junior high school students, offering an escape room scenario where they solve puzzles to learn about local landmarks.
All our programmes align with the New Zealand Curriculum and, notably, the Aotearoa Histories Curriculum, which classroom teachers are required to teach from 2023 as part of the curriculum refresh.
Over the Christmas break, our educators have been busy preparing for another busy year, refreshing old programmes and designing new ones that classroom teachers have requested.
We work alongside teachers to ensure our programmes align with classroom learning outcomes and the localised curriculum – Hawke’s Bay stories.
New programmes for 2024 include “Waka Huia”, taught to Year 11 NCEA visual arts students. They get a close-up look at different waka huia, hue (gourd), and treasure boxes from the MTG collection — an amazing opportunity to see primary source artefacts.
“Te Wā o ngā Tohorā”, the Time of the Whales programme, explores how Māori and Pākehā lived and worked together, their connection to the natural world, and tells the story of the Tohorā whales of Te Matau-a-Maui / Hawke’s Bay through primary source collection images and artefacts.
“Art Deco: Rising from the Ashes” looks at the Art Deco architecture sweeping across the world in the 1930s and how the region embraced the style following the February 3 earthquake in 1931, exploring the symbols, motifs, and meanings behind these different shapes.
Don’t worry early childhood educators, we haven’t forgotten about you. Our educators are putting the final touches on our “Rongokako” programme designed especially for early childhood and hope to roll this out over the coming months.
Now we come to February; schools are back this week, our calendar is starting to fill up, and the educators at MTG are sending positive thoughts out to the universe. We would love to get through a year with no Covid, no cyclones, no disruptions please.
Debbie Ormsby is visitor engagement manager.
