Te Hiku Manukorero Far North Speech Competition on again

The Te Hiku Manu Kōrero Far North Schools Speech Competition 2022 Year 8 English and Te Reo Māori winners were Max Tye (right) from Pompallier Catholic School and Hineteaio Chapman (Te Kura Kaupapa o Te Rangi Aniwaniwa). The competition is on again at Te Ahu today and tomorrow.

Almost 50 students from 16 schools will take to the stage at Te Ahu in Kaitāia today and tomorrow for the annual Te Hiku Manukorero Far North Speech Competition.

The 49 Year 5 to Year 8 students from Pompallier Catholic School, Te Rangi Aniwaniwa, Pāmapūria School, Mangonui School, Ngataki School, Te Hapua School, Te Kura o Te Kao, Pukenui School, Kaingaroa School, Kaitāia Intermediate, Ahipara School, Te Kura Taumata o Panguru, Paparore School, Waihārara School, Oruaiti School and Kaitāia Primary School will test their oratory skills in English and Te Reo.

Today is for Year 5 and 6 students while tomorrow will see Year 7 and 8 students take to the stage from 9am both days. Prizegiving will be at 2pm both days.

The speech competition has come along way since it was first held in 2008 and is now one of the most prestigious speech competitions in the region.

In 2008, Pompallier Catholic School hosted the event for the first time as an inter-zone schools event. It was held at St Joseph’s Catholic Church. Pompallier Catholic School had previously held their own school speech competition. The competition gained momentum and interest quickly and has since become a regular annual slot in Te Hiku School calendars.

Pompallier Catholic School continued to organise the event and as its popularity increased the venue changed to the Far North REAP Kauri Room, which was able to support the school to host.

In 2018, the venue changed to the Little Theatre at Te Ahu due to the popularity and support from whānau and friends and in 2020 it was again moved to the “big hall” at Te Ahu.

Hundreds of children over the years have benefited from their participation and we thank them all for their enthusiasm, their confidence and their passion.

There have been a variety of topics over the years, that are often based on what is happening in our world at that time. Some of the topics have been: “Are celebrities good role models?”, “Be loud and proud with te reo”; “Whānau is important to me”; “The fountain of knowledge will never run dry”; “Communication by face or by phone/computer?”; “The solution to pollution”, and “Fizzy Drinks should be banned”, to name just a few.