Yesterday team 5 got the chance to visit a cultural festival called Polyfest. For those who do not know what Polyfest is, it is an iconic cultural festival held every year (for 44 years!) in Manukau Sports Bowl Auckland, New Zealand. Every secondary school in the area get the chance to compete which is what the event is famous for, although it also features a range of food stalls and activities. The competition allows different people to embrace their cultures through traditional dances from Hindi (bollywood) dances to even the Tongan tau'olunga!
Polyfest hold a schools day on the Wednesday (the first day of the event) where schools are invited to come in and explore the activities, before the main crowds arrive. The companies and organisations at the stands put on a range of activities especially for this day. We visited a range of stalls, from the Fire Brigade to radio stations to AUT. Each stand had a different activity for us to participate in.
While most of the main stages were closed on this day, we managed to sneak in to see some of the Kapa Haka performances on the Māori stage, which was amazing! We were so impressed with the enthusiasm and talent of the students who performed. You could really tell that they were loving the experience!
Some of our favourite stands were from Elections (who taught us about voting and what the mayor and prime minister do), AUT who told us about uni and taught us a dance and Vaimatina who came all the way from Hawaii to teach us to Hula!
We also met heaps of people who taught us more about careers. We met some people from different Universities and courses who taught us about all the scholarships that are available in a range of areas from teaching to welding! We also learnt about some specific careers like the Navy (which is more about disaster relief and peace keeping than many of us realised) and being a radio host.
Overall the trip really helped us to learn more about our inquiry topic: Ko wai au? Ko wai tātou? Ko wai rātou? As we have been looking at our past (our culture and journey to Glen Innes), our present (our interests and identities) and our future (our careers). There was something to support our understanding of each of those foci throughout the day. What a wonderful experience!
Kia Ora Room 4 it is Jazmine from Grey Main School.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like your class has been busy this week with going to a festival. Looking at the pictures it looks like you have been having a lot of fun. What was your favourite bit of of festival ?
By Jazmine.
Kia Ora Room 4 my name is Jacob from Yaldhurst model school I'm a year 8. I really like this blog post. Because you explain about what it is how long did it take you to get all the way over there. it would be cool if I went there. But keep up the good work and try your best at theses things.
ReplyDeleteFrom Jacob
Kia Ora Room 4 my name is Teegan from Yaldhurst model school. I'm a year 7. I really like this blog post. Because you explain about what it is how long did it take you to get all the way over there. it would be cool if I went there. But keep up the good work and try your best at theses things.
ReplyDeleteFrom Teegan Ducharme
Hey Room 4, my name is Parwin and I am a year 8 at Yaldhurst Model school. I really like your blog post because you have added lots of information and you have said what a polyfest is for those who didn't know (like me).I like how you added some photos and from the looks of it, it looks like you had an amazing time! Keep the great work up!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to your next blog posts,
Parwin