How Māui slowed the sun.

At kindy, we’ve been exploring the exciting myths and legends of Māui—an important part of Aotearoa’s rich bicultural heritage. These special pūrākau (stories) help us connect with te ao Māori (the Māori world) and support our learning of te reo Māori as a living, meaningful language. The tamariki showed great enthusiasm and confidence as they acted out Māui’s legendary adventure—how he slowed down the sun. They created their own props, including Te rā (the sun), taura (ropes), and a hei matau (fishhook), using them to bring the story to life. The children performed with confidence, retelling the story through action and words in front of their peers. Along the way, they learned new te reo Māori vocabulary in an authentic and engaging context. It was a wonderful example of storytelling, creativity, and cultural learning coming together in a meaningful way. 

Thank you from the Salvation Army

Today, the lovely Tony from the Salvation Army visited Uxbridge to collect all the generous food donations from our thoughtful whānau. On behalf of the Salvation Army, he extended a heartfelt thank you for the kaupapa that went into providing such a kind and meaningful donation.

Our tamariki took great pride in helping to fill the crates with food, knowing their contributions would support many families in need.

Te mutunga kē mai o te rawe – absolutely amazing!
What a fantastic effort from everyone—thank you!

Matariki 2025

 Ngā mihi o Matariki, te tau hou Māori  Happy Matariki!

Matariki is such a special and meaningful time  a celebration of the Māori New Year. Its a time for reflection and unity, where we come together to remember those who came before us, honour the uniqueness of each individual, and celebrate our whānau and wider community. We share kai, stories, waiata, and aroha.  At Uxbridge, we have embraced this special time of year through a variety of shared experiences from painting, weaving, or making salt dough stars, to creating individual feathers for a beautiful collaborative korowai.  To conclude our Matariki celebrations, our tamariki brought in hua whenua (vegetables) symbolic of the Matariki harvest. Together, we lovingly prepared and shared a delicious soup as part of a celebratory feast, followed by a delicious treat of jelly and ice-cream! Our beautiful Kindy whānau also showed incredible generosity by donating food items to the Salvation Army, showing care and manaakitanga as we thought of others during this season.

What a wonderful Matariki 2025 full of connection, creativity, and kindness.