Kia ora, Ni hao, Dobar dan, Malo e leilei, Hola, Konnichiwa, Talofa, Namaste, Chão, Vannakkam, Kamusta, Hello!

This week so many of our Marist whānau shared their culture –through stories, through language, through music & dance, through arts & crafts, and through food. We are blessed and full of gratitude for you all.

Yesterday’s cultural food day was extraordinary and superseded all expectations. Children adventurously tried a huge variety of foods from around the world. Your generosity in providing food and the time you gave at school was greatly appreciated. The cooking demonstrations were watched by budding chefs!! We all went home with very full pukus!!! Thank you so much!

Events like this week are what our children remember about primary school–the fun, the sharing and of course, the food!

The many opportunities that the children experienced this week showed the high value and importance we all place on our identity, our language & our culture. Our Tūrangawaewae, our place to our stand–here at Marist School, Mt Albert represents the diverse face of Auckland City.

We are proud to be Marist & Catholic and we are especially proud of our loving, generous and ever supportive diverse community.

Kei te pēhea koe?

We have been practising how to ask each other how we are in Te reo. Watch some of our videos here.

Rose and Giovanna

Benjamin and Alistair

Tristan and Nathan H

Jacqui and Courtney

The porotiti is a disc, often beautifully shaped and ornamented, which can be spun on twin cords to create a mysterious humming accompaniment to singing or other music. We made our own Porotiti from card and string.

Hipitoitoi

This Māori game is played with the thumbs held in four different positions while the fists are clenched and the hands are close together in front of the body. Learn to play here: Instructions. Video

Thank you Aleah, Rose, Gabriel and Avedis for sharing a traditional folk dance from the Philippines called tinikling. The dance uses two bamboo poles and mimics the movement of birds. Enjoy watching the performance below!

My favourite thing about culture week was the food. You can see the diverse food from different cultures in Hub 1 and we all shared it.There was a lot of food and you could tell everyone who brought food made an effort in making their food. I and everyone else really enjoyed eating the food together it really shows all the cultures in our school. Dan

This week was Maori language week and it was also Marist Culture week! We all had so much fun with the rotations and the Hub based activities. My favourite part was the rotations. I liked the rotations the most because you were with the little kids who you would probably never know! We learned a lot of different cultures and their traditions. Thank you teachers for making it happen! Seraphina

My favourite part of cultural week was the rotations. I enjoyed it because I got to learn so much more about all the cultures. I really hope that we can get another chance to celebrate all the diverse cultures again. Amelia

My favourite things about Culture week were the arts and crafts and the games rotations. Not only was it fun but it was in House groups so I got to learn with my Hub 2 Pompallier friends.

I loved the origami in Hub 3. I also really enjoyed acting as a roster for a story in Hub 2. Roman

My favourite thing about cultural week was the shared food day and getting to cook and bake. I liked exploring all the different cultures and their ways of living. I learned soooo much about everyone's cultures and preferred ways. I think it was such a good idea to open us up to all those ways and cultures. Arlo

My favourite park of Cultural week was when we got to try everyone's different food from their culture. I also liked participating in Clarike’s dance. It was fun even though it didn't go very well. Pippa

My 1st favourite thing about this week was sharing all of the cultural foods of the world. The reason is because I love food and trying new things. My 2nd favourite thing was getting the henna tattoo because I loved all of the different patterns and designs. Now for my 3rd favourite thing - the rotations. That is because I love learning about all the different cultures of the world and what's special about them and their people. Jacqui Wade

My favourite part of the cultural week was the arts and crafts because I love making creations and I love drawing. I really enjoyed it and I hope we can do it again this year. Sarang

My favourite moment about cultural week is tasting food from different cultural backgrounds. The food was delicious and I hope I get to try these foods again. I also liked dressing up in our cultural costumes and seeing everyone else's. Giovanna

My favourite part was the talented Irish dancers, how they kicked their legs in the air and hopped and hopped. I hope they can dance soon. Faith

My favourite thing about Marist cultural week is the FOOD! All of the food was so unique, and tasty, I am really happy that I got a chance to taste different foods. Rose

My favourite part about cultural week was the food. My favourite food was chocolate crepes with maple syrup from Canada. They were so delicious! I also enjoyed trying lots of new foods that were delicious. Hunter

One of my favourite activities was House rotations. I enjoyed them because it helped me understand and learn about brilliant cultures in a variety of nations. One of the following activities was creating a Siapo which would tell a story depending on the design. I was very interested in seeing how generations of the past would pass on stories without going to tell them. Avedis

MY FAVOURITE THING ABOUT THIS WEEK WAS … Arts and crafts on Wednesday because we did siapo pictures on brown paper and used a sharpie to trace the pencil layer in Hub 4 and in Hub 1 we folded a piece of paper into a square and cut patterns then opened it and stuck it on another piece of paper to make Tivaevae. Aleah

The part I loved the most is probably the shared food lunch on Thursday,

because it was interesting tasting different foods from different cultures. Senalya

My favourite bit about cultural week was the shared lunch. It was such a great experience. The different food was really good and different to what people would usually have at home.

I think cultural week should be more often so the juniors and seniors can have more cultural experiences. Giana

In cultural week, my favourite part of it was on Monday, we played TWO cultural games from Ireland and India. In the Irish activity we listened to a dance called “Riverdance” which was performed for the Pope. Then three girls showed us some dancing. The second activity in Irish was colouring in your own Irish designs. In the India activity we played Knucklebones and chess, it was so much fun! Nathan B

The thing I most enjoyed about cultural week was trying the different foods that other kids had made. I especially liked the lolly cake that we watched Johanna make. Eliza

i enjoyed all the rotations and learning about all the cultures that the school represented. I enjoyed the games and arts and craft. It was a lot fun because we got to do it and not watch and help people to to do the task. Thomas

Today my uncle Marin, who is also my Godfather, came into my Hub to teach us some Croatian words. He taught us how to count up to 10 and how to say The Sign of the cross in Croatian. Franco

Senalya and Eleena's Dad demonstrated how to make Sri Lankan Fish buns - delicious!

Elijah's Dad came and taught Hub 3 some new songs in te reo and we made Japanese dolls!

We made Cook Islands Tivaevae with paper.....