Keep New Zealand Beauitful

Earlier the year we entered the Resene Wall Worthy Competition which gives you a chance to paint a mural in your local community that celebrates a local hero, tells a story about your area or communicates a nature or conservation theme. Below is our entry.

Place – Turanganui-a-Kiwa

Our mural tells the story of how our place was once a kai basket for iwi that lived in this area where our school now resides. The stream was abundant with the fish kanae, hence its name Waikanae, the raupo that the pukeko lived amongst, kumara that was planted from the arrival of one of the first waka –  Horouta. It shows the environment that the toroa and karearea birds soar through, with the sun (Gizzy) and the four winds that visit. These stories were shared with us from the local iwi and have influenced our school so much so, that we have incorporated the birds and winds into our school values and brand.

Yay! we were one of 10 winners from schools across New Zealand. Now the real work begins. The logistics of creating a mural the size of a building was our first stumbling block. We brainstormed many ways to upscale the design. Our Principal took on the challenge and changed the scale and drew it directly on to the sheets of Ply. Then we were off.... not quite! Covid lock down hit again! As we reassessed the mural and timeframe in order to get it completed on time we made the decision to switch it from a student project to a teacher project, which turned out to be the best thing! We have come together as a staff to create our story and leave a legacy for our students.