Kapa Haka at Milford School
Nau mai, haere mai koutou! No te tī no te tā i Te Ika-a-Māui ahau. No Te Raki Pae Whenua ināianei. Kei te Ao Kori me Kapa Haka kaiako ahau o te Kura Milford. Ko Louise Lavulo tōku ingoa.
Welcome everyone! I am from all over the North Island but now I live on the North Shore. I am the Physical Education & Kapa Haka teacher at Milford School. My name is Louise Lavulo.
I take the Kapa Haka rōpu (group) for 40 minutes each week and additional sessions as a lead up to performances. Currently, the rōpu is open to Year 4-6 students due to the size of the group, though we have begun to incorporate our Taitamariki (younger children) who identify as Māori on their enrollment form. This year, we are exploring ways to integrate Year 0-3 tamariki who are wanting to be involved but on a smaller scale, though they can enhance our Year 4-6 rōpu with some performances.
For children to take part in our Kapa Haka rōpu (group), they don’t need to be of Māori descent, but they need to have a genuine interest in Māori culture, tikanga (customs), waiata (songs), dance (kanikani), performing arts or want to be in a group of like-minded people. I like to keep the rōpu student-driven where we utilise our time wisely to maximise our gains in terms of learning and performance.
When I took on the Kapa Haka kaiako (teacher) role in 2018, I asked the children to select a whakataukī (proverb) that they could identify with that would unite us all. Here is the one that we use:
‘Mēnā ka whakapono koe, ka tutuki koe!’
This translates as:
‘If you believe it, you can achieve it!’
Here are some of the performances that our rōpu (group) may be involved with; I will keep in touch with any relevant information, dates and resources as the year progresses.
| Performance | Date |
|---|---|
| Pōwhiri (formal welcome) to welcome manuhiri (visitors) into our school | March |
| Pupukefest | Bi-annually |
| Matāriki | June / July |
| Te wiki o Te Reo Māori-(Māori Language Week | September (TBC) |
| Onepoto Festival in November | November (TBC) |
| Festival of Song in December | December (TBC) |
| Various assembly performances throughout the year |
Below the Google Form to complete so that I have details for your child if you wish for them to be involved in Kapa Haka this year.
There is also a section at the bottom where you can add any contacts or skill-sets that you may have that could benefit our rōpu or school community.
For any enquiries, please contact Louise Lavulo on louise.lavulo@milford.school.nz