Welcome to Edgecumbe Primary School

Welcome to Edgecumbe
Room 7, 2014!
Edgecumbe Primary School is a small school in a small
rural Eastern Bay of Plenty town.
We are a Year 2 classroom of 5-6 year olds. Whaea
Lesa and Whaea Niki are the teachers in this class.

Where in the World is New Zealand?
Before you learn about our class…let’s find out where New Zealand is!
We are a pretty small
nation out in the Pacific
Ocean! Our biggest and
closest neighbour is
Australia.
*www.isadopt.is

Room 7 welcomes you to Edgecumbe Primary School
• We are a Decile 2 School
• We have 8 teachers, 3 teacher aides, 2 Office staff, 1
caretaker, 2 cleaners and of course our Principal!
• We have about 185 students at our school
• We have 4 Junior classes, 2 Middle school class and 2
Intermediate (Y7-8) classes
• We have a ‘Breakfast Club’ – children can come to
school between 8:30 am – 8:50 am. We receive free
fruit 2-3 times a week
• We are part of the Fonterra ‘Milk in Schools’
programme where we also receive free milk
• All children receive free books every term as part of the
Duffy Book programme – all
Decile 1 and 2 New Zealand schools
are part of this programme
Whaea Niki and Room 7 sitting outside our Office and next
to our School Kiwi.

‘I Care, We Care’
Our school’s values are based around ‘I CARE’ and we practice ‘I
CARE’ in everything we do!
I CARE is short for:
Caring (Caring for myself, for others, for property and for the environment)
Achievement
Responsibility
Effort
We practice how to treat and behave towards others and we think
about how our actions affect or influence others. We also learn about
how our ‘attitude affects our altitude’ or in other words, ‘we try to aim
high’ and our effort and hard work will influence our achievement.
We start and finish every day with prayer (karakia: car-rar-key-ar).
Karakia Timatanga (Start to the day)
Karakia Whakamutunga (End of the day)
‘I CARE, We CARE!’
Our school is a brain-based learning school
(we learn about our brain and the best way it works so we can get the best out of learning!).
One of our big role models joined us in our photograph!

Our school is only next door to
the Edgecumbe College so big
brothers and sisters do not need
to go far.
Our school will be turning 100
years old in November this year
(2014).

We took photographs
of Room 7 in different
places around our
school.
The bottom small
photograph - Room 7 is
sitting in the Wharenui
our school and the
College share.

This term we had been training
for our School’s Cross Country
event.
We like cooking with Whaea Niki. This term,
our class has been learning about writing
instructions and we started with simple
recipes.

We have special guests come to talk to
our school! This visitor came to talk to
us about dinosaurs as part of being a
Duffy Role Model.
We have a special group of entertainers
who come every year as part of the
Duffy Theatre – we receive free books
as part of the Duffy Book programme.

We have rally cars visit our school once every
year as part of the Targa Rally that goes
throughout the North Island. There is a Targa
Rally that goes tours the South Island too!
We had a school gala this year.
We haven’t had one for a long
time!

Why Room 7 love Edgecumbe!
Here are just some of the places Room 7 children love…
…can you spot which place in Edgecumbe is their favourite?

We Love our Little Community…
…it is a very small rural farming
community.
The Community get together for
different projects like painting this
mural with the help of an artist.

A community group
called E.D.I.T
(Edgecumbe
Development and
Improvement Team) help
organize projects like
cleaning gardens around
Edgecumbe or putting up
information signs.

Across the river is Eastpack – a
kiwifruit packing company. Many
of our Mums, Dads, Aunties and
Uncles work here.
Fonterra Milk Company is in
Edgecumbe too. We have family
members who work here as well.

…a rugby club.
Around Edgecumbe we have these places…
…a skate park the community
helped to fund raise for! …our Community Hall.
…and a few more
interesting places.

…and lots and lots of farm land (to do farm stuff and some fun stuff!).

Facts about New Zealand
• The Maori name for New Zealand is ‘Aotearoa’ (Ow-tear-are-ror-ar)
• The capital city of New Zealand is Wellington, at the bottom of the North Island
• Our population of New Zealand so far is 4,536,393 people
• Our country is part of the Commonwealth of Nations (or Commonwealth). Our flag
has the Union Jack from the UK, 4 stars like the Southern Cross (group of stars)
only seen in the Southern Hemisphere on a blue background.
Kiwi bird
*www.kiwibird.org
*Moa
en.wikipedia.nz
*Wellington
www.holidaywellington.co.nz

• Our currency is the New Zealand dollar (3 of our dollars makes £1 pound)
• In 1840, the English government representatives and almost all the Maori chiefs in New
Zealand signed a treaty to say we will get on better. We have a holiday to celebrate this
called ‘Waitangi Day’
• In 1893, New Zealand was the first place to let women vote
• The ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy and ‘The Hobbit’ trilogy movies were made in New
Zealand
• WETA workshop in Wellington, made the computer graphics in the ‘Lord of the Rings’
and ‘The Hobbit’ movies. They let school groups visit
• People drive on the left hand side of the road
Women vote!
*www.teara.govt.nz
Signing the Treaty
*www.treatyofwaitangi.net
Weta insect!
*folksong.org.nz

• Languages:
Our official languages we speak are English, Maori and Sign language. Children can
go to full immersion schools to learn Maori from Year 0 – Year 13. Other languages like
Samoan, are beginning to be taught in schools in the bigger cities.
• Culture:
The main native culture of New Zealand is Maori, otherwise we have New Zealand
Europeans (Pakeha), Pacific Islanders and many other cultures.
Kia Ora!
Kei te
pehea
koe?
Kapa Haka
*news.msn.co.nz
“Hi. How are you?”
*odu.edu

• Clothing:
We wear the same clothes as anyone else. For festivals, Maori people wear these
types of clothes (photographs) when they perform in dancing and singing festivals
or Kapa Haka (Car-par Har-kar) events.
The skirt is a Piupiu (pee-you-pee-you) and is made from rolling strands
of flax and then drying.
The cloak was once made from weaving strands of flax and then bird feathers were
added too. The strands of flax are strong and can be soft. Today, women weavers
use objects like material wool, string and bird feathers. Cloaks given to you
are a great honour because it takes a lot of skill and time to make one and
not many people have one.
*Clothing
www.tepapa.govt.nz
*Cloak
www.eske-style.co.nz
*Cloaks
www.fletchercollection.co.nz

• Farming:
We have cow (diary) and sheep farms. New Zealand also has many different
orchards that grow different fruits or vegetables.
Cows are used for their milk that also makes a lot of other diary products. They are
also used for meat.
Sheep are used for their meat and wool.

• Sports:
People play lots of different sports in New Zealand but our main sport codes are…
…but we also have very good kayakers, cyclists, swimmers, squash players, soccer
players, runners, hockey players, basketballers, white water rafters, canoe outriggers,
multi-sporters, mountain bikers, golfers, cricketers, bowlers, tennis players, horse
riders…and lots of other sporty people!
The almighty ‘All
Blacks’ rugby team
versus Australia!
*www.3news.tvnz.co.nz
The ‘Silver Ferns’
netball team versing
Australia.
*www.3news.tvnz.co.nz

• Food or Kai (k-eye):
We eat food that might be found in other countries. We also like these foods…
During Summer, families
will cook food on a
barbeque (BBQ)
…seafood or kai-moana
Cockles and Pipi
*www.teara.govt.nz
*www.tasteofhome.co.nz
Kina
*www.teara.govt.nz
*www.nzfishingworld.co.nz
Smoked eel
*ngaitahu.iwi.nz
Crayfish
*www.heartofthecity.co.nz

Many families (mainly Maori) like to eat food from a ‘hangi’ (har-ngee). Volcanic rocks are heated by
putting then into a fire and when they are hot enough, the rocks are put into the bottom of a dirt pit,
prepared food - meat, potatoes, kumara (sweet potato), pumpkin - are put inside wire cages and then
placed on top of the rocks. Cabbage leaves are put on top of the food and then wet sacks to help
steam all the food. People can then cover the hangi with a metal cylinder or just put lots of dirt on top
to seal in the heat. The hangi is left for about 3-4 hours to steam the food. When it comes out, the
food has been cooked and is very hot.
People can have hangi
any time but it takes a
long time to do. It can
feed a lot of people!
Many Maori families will
have this at Christmas
time.
*Putting Down a Hangi
warrenpohatu.blogspot.com

In some of the geothermal areas where there are hot pools, people can bathe in these places and in
other pools, people can cook their food by steaming or boiling them! At Whakarewarewa (Far-car-re-
wah-re-wah) in Rotorua, people used to do just this – steam or boil their food! The pools that they
used for baths are in a different area.
Steaming or boiling food at Whakarewarewa
*www.teara.govt.nz
Bathing at the Polynesian Pools in Rotorua
*lynx-travel.com

• Favourite Food:
New Zealand has a lot of favourite food like…
Delicious milo drink
*www.milo.co.nz
A box of ‘Kiwi NZ’ treats
*www.kiwihomesickpack.co.nz
Whittaker’s Chocolate
*www.ashop.co.nz
Yummy mince pie
*tvnz.co.nz

• The Kiwi bird is New Zealand’s icon. It has wings but cannot really fly.
• Once upon a time, New Zealand had the biggest bird! It was the Moa but
it is extinct. The Haast Eagle (which is also extinct) was smaller than the
Moa but was also a large bird and it used to hunt the Moa for food!
• Our tallest building in New Zealand is the Sky Tower and is 328 metres
tall (counting the tip of the antenna at the top!). It is the tallest free-
standing building in the Southern Hemisphere.
Kiwi bird.
*www.kiwibird.org
The Haast Eagle
and Moa birds.
*en.wikipedia.org
The Sky Tower
*www.newzealandphoto.info

• The famous Pink and White terraces disappeared a long time ago under Lake Rotomahana (near
Rotorua) when Mount Tarawera erupted…BUT…scientists have found these in the last two years and
are studying the terraces.
• In Maori myth, Putauaki fell in love with a beautiful island called Whakaari (White Island) which is
another active volcano that still breathes smoke and steam today. Putauaki was already married to
Tarawera! Whakaari can be seen from Whakatane.
*These images are borrowed from
www.3news.co.nz

• Our tallest building in New Zealand is the Sky Tower and is 328 metres tall (counting the tip
of the antenna at the top!). It is the tallest free-standing building in the Southern
Hemisphere.
• We have earthquakes in New Zealand. In 1987, Edgecumbe had a big earthquake that
destroyed buildings, rail way tracks and left huge cracks in the earth.
• Our last gigantic earthquake was the Christchurch earthquake in 2012 which killed 151
people and lots of buildings were destroyed.
Auckland Sky Tower
*en.wikipedia.org *The image of the train was borrowed
from www.civildefence.govt.nz and the
store photo is borrowed by
www.teara.govt.nz

• We have lots of volcanoes in New Zealand because our country is part of the ‘ring of fire’
where tectonic plates meet in the Pacific Ocean deep under the sea. Where these plates
meet or ‘trenches’ are, volcanoes are made.
• Kawerau has a sleeping volcano near its town called Putauaki. Tarawera was a volcano not
far from Kawerau. It had an enormous eruption in 1886 and120 people were killed. A Maori
village that was near this mountain was destroyed.
This is what Tarawera looks like today
*www.geology.sdsu.edu
In 1886 Tarawera mountain erupted
*ecotoursrotorua.co.nz

Climate and Seasons….
A Winter’s morning outside
Edgecumbe.
Autumn time, many trees around
Edgecumbe lose their orange, brown
and red leaves. These are
deciduous trees. We also have
evergreen trees too.

In the Eastern Bay of Plenty (EBOP), we are pretty warm all through the year, even during Winter!
It does not snow here or near here but we do have heavy frosts. On some days, it can be a heavy
white frost but still a sunny day and in the afternoon, we could be wearing t-shirts and shorts
because it has become hot!
In the middle of the North Island, on the top of our biggest and tallest mountains or in the South
Island and Stewart Island, it snows and has thick ice.
Whaea Lesa (pink hat) and a friend.
Whaea Lesa’s younger son.
Whaea Lesa’s
older son.

Edgecumbe is close to many towns and lots of neat places like beaches, lakes, forest walks and camping sites. Some of
our children like to go fishing, camping and even go hunting for pigs and deer with their dads, uncles or families.
Kawerau is only 15 minutes away from Edgecumbe and they have a sleeping volcano near their town – Mount Putauaki.
They also have a beautiful camping site next to Lake Tarawera. The Tarawera River starts from here and flows down the
Tarawera Waterfall and flows past Kawerau town.
Towns and places near Edgecumbe:
Lake Okareka near
Rotorua
*This image was borrowed from en.wikipedia.org

• Kawerau is near Edgecumbe. It is a Mill town that was built for the workers working at the
Tasman Paper and Mill company about 1952. Tasman Mill was renamed Norske Skog which
is still open today exporting paper and paper pulp, but they do not have as many people
working here any more.
*Both black and white
photographs are from the
Kawerau Musuem

• Whakatane (Far-car-tar-ni) is the nearest big town. When the Maori people first came to this area a
long, long time ago on a big waka (canoe) named Mataatua (Mar-tar-two-ar), they first came here.
There were 7 large waka that came to New Zealand. The Mataatua waka travelled up along the
Whakatane River, which is also known as Ohinemataroa (Oar-he-ne-mar-tar-ror-ar ), to find a small
cave. The people stayed here to rest while the warriors went onto the land to explore.
• While the men were gone, the waka began to drift back down the river. The Chief’s daughter called
Wairaka said the words, “Kia Whakatane au i ahau” which means “I will act the part of a man”. She
swam to the waka and paddled it back in. But…another version says it was her aunty Muriwai that
actually said the words and saved the waka because Wairaka would have been too small to paddle
the waka back to shore.
This is a statue of Wairaka.
*www.teara.govt.nzThis is Muriwai’s Cave.
*www.teara.govt.nz

• Wairaka’s father Toroa was the chief and Muriwai was Toroa’s sister. A marae was built in
the area Wairaka, opposite the Whakatane river. This marae is called Wairaka Marae and
the big meeting house or Wharenui (Far-ree-new-ee) is called Te Whare o Toroa (Tore-ror-
ar) or The House of Toroa.
There are many marae throughout New Zealand. They are where the sub-tribes (hapu) or
family groups gather for different occasions.
The front of Wairaka Marae
*www.teara.govt.nz

• Ohope is a beach and a community only 10 minutes drive from Whakatane. It is a popular place for
people to go swimming and there are food shops here.
• Thornton Beach is only 10 minutes drive from Edgecumbe. The Rangitaiki River flows to the Thornton
Beach bar going right past Edgecumbe from the Te Mahoe (Te-Mar-hor-ee) dam only 15 minutes drive
away. People use the river to go fishing, white-baiting, rowing and canoeing. People go in boats over
the Thornton bar to go out to sea to do some more fishing.
• Matata (Mar-tar-tar) is a small beach community only 5 minutes drive
from Thornton Beach
Ohope Beach
Thornton Beach
*www.nzfarms.co.nz

Why is it cool to live in New Zealand?
New Zealand is a very small country made up of
three islands – the North Island, the South Island
and little Stewart Island at the bottom of the South
Island.
Our school is in the Eastern Bay of Plenty of the
North Island. It is hot in Summer and cold and
frosty during Winter but it does not snow here
because it is still too warm. Some afternoons get
really warm!
Some of our families like to go skiing on big
mountains in the middle of the North Island. We
can go skiing on Mount Ruapehu (Ru-are-pear-
who).

Rotorua (Ror-tore-ru-ar) is only 1 hour drive from Edgecumbe. It is a geothermal area and sometimes it smells like
rotten eggs when you get closer to Rotorua. Lots of tourists come here because there are lots of cool things to do
here. Rotorua is built around Lake Rotorua and there are about 10 lakes near Rotorua. It is also surrounded by
forests and people go tramping, exercising and mountain biking through the forests.
A quick look at Rotorua!
The top photograph is at
Whakarewarewa in Rotorua.
*sfgate.com
The bottom photograph is at the
Blue Lake, 5 minutes from Rotorua,
taken by Whaea Lesa.

Tauranga (Toe-rar-nga) is in the Western Bay of Plenty and is built around a huge estuary and has bridges connecting
suburbs and Mount Maunganui (Mow-nga-new-ee) to main Tauranga. This is a busy city because ships come here carrying
people or shipping containers with lots of stuff to sell in New Zealand or take to other countries…it is a busy shipping port.
A quick look at Tauranga!
The top photograph is of
Mount Maunganui after
7pm.
The bottom photograph is
of Port of Tauranga.
*www.port-tauranga.co.nz
*Looking at Mount Maunganui and Tauranga / www.tauranga.govt.nz

The North Island has lots of cool places! There are many camping spots like the Department of Conservation
(DOC) camping areas, forests for hunting, camping, swimming during Summer or skiing in Winter and if you don’t
like to do these things, you can go shopping!
The North Island
These
photographs
were taken at
the very top of
the North Island!
Cape Reinga

Skiing at Mount
Ruapehu.
In the middle of the North
Island at Waiouru. One of our
main Army training bases is
just down the road!
A waterfall on the way to Napier.
At a DOC camp on the way to Mount Ruapehu.
Te Araroa town on the East Cape of the North Island / *www.tikitouring.co.nz

The South Island is very beautiful and hasn’t as many people living here as there are in the North Island. Lots of
tourists visit our South Island including the North Island people!
The South Island
At one of the beaches near Collingwood, at the top of the South Island.
These are Whaea Lesa’s children.
Walter Peak near
Blenheim in the top part
of the South Island.
Fiordlands, at the bottom
of the South Island.

There are lots of cool things to do in the South Island.
On a swing ride between two hill tops outside Nelson. This is
Whaea Lesa’s husband and children (again!).
Another type of swing ride but this time in a rocket! It
flew down the side of a very high hill on a cable to stop in
a pool at the bottom. Kaiteriteri near Golden Bay is at
the top of the South Island not far from Nelson.
Kayaking down one
of the rivers. There
are lots of rivers.

Stewart Island is below the South Island. People live there and tourists visit here too. There is a bird sanctuary
off this island on one of the smaller outer islands. People can go on nature walks or sight seeing plane and boat
trips. The roads don’t go right around the island and some places are very isolated.
Stewart Island
Stewart Island (Rakiura)
*www.rakiurawatertaxi.co.nz
Cape Reinga
Stewart Island (Rakiura)
*www.greenvalestewartisland.co.nz
*This image is borrowed from en.wikipedia.org

A Few Popular Maori Stories our young children learn about:
- ‘Maui and the Sun’ http://youtu.be/wgLWdCrgR7w (It is in Maori with English sub-titles)
- ‘Ranginui and Papatuanuku’ - Part 1 http://youtu.be/XsEAab_Tni4
(Sky-Father and Earth-Mother – How our world was created)
- ‘Ranginui and Papatuanuku’ – Part 2 http://youtu.be/yHhMgrAMulA
- ‘How Kiwi lost his Wings’ http://youtu.be/3znZjTay5J0 (An adaptation)

Songs • He Honore by Mr Biddle and school children
(Mr Biddle was a Kapa Haka – Maori songs tutor - teacher from a Kawerau school).
• YouTube Clip Links :
- ‘Hello to One’ - http://youtu.be/qmDCBiF-rEM (Greetings)
- ‘Tohora Nui’ - http://youtu.be/C28LCAjGclY (About animals)
• Here is a popular song we listen to in Schools:
- ‘Hiwi the Kiwi’ by the Minstrel
(a musician and family who travel around NZ singing about important messages and themes).
• Whaea Lesa’s old class blog from Kawerau Putauaki Song (Kapa Haka videos)
- http://t1-2012.wikispaces.com/Tarawera+Kapa+Haka

Resource links you can also look at:
• Discovering Edgecumbe (a project Whaea Lesa’s Year 3-4 class worked on in 2013 and
published in a New Zealand educational site)
http://www.livingheritage.org.nz/Schools-Stories/Discovering-Edgecumbe
• Discovering Edgecumbe – our actual project notes, extra information and resources we
used and bookmarked in our class blog
http://room7ateps-2013.wikispaces.com/Discovering+Edgecumbe%21
• Room 7’s Class blog (it really is a wikispace) where you can visit our classroom for 2014
https://room7-2014-eps.wikispaces.com/

References:
All the photographs featured are from Whaea Lesa’s personal holiday snaps from
around New Zealand. Other photographs or illustrations used have had their sources
and links referenced on the same pages except for Slide 19.
Slide 19 images:
* teara.govt.nz
* tvnz.co.nz
* www.kiwikraft.co.nz
*www.inter-weave.co.nz
*www.stuff.co.nz
* www.stuff.co.nz
* nzte.govt.nz
*exporter.magazine.co.nz

Our classroom spent the first few weeks of our school term looking at some of the topics
(Edgecumbe town, what places were near Edgecumbe, what was special about being in New
Zealand and a few other things) in this power-point but then Whaea Lesa filled in lots of parts and
then shared these with Room 7 children. We hope you like the information we put together and
hope it is not too much…also, Whaea Lesa and other people checked to see if there were any
spelling mistakes. Whaea Lesa is sorry if there are! 
Thank You!

Welcome to Edgecumbe Primary School

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