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Our bicultural curriculum

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At BestStart Willowpark our Kaiako ensures we deliver the best of our localized curriculum, by weaving our Atua throughout our daily program and teaching practice. For the last 4 months, we have been celebrating the Atua Rongomatane. 

Rongomatne is the Maori God of Cultivation and Peace and on this day our tamariki got to enjoy Whakato kumara, the planting of sweet vegetables. Vegetables especially kumara were a very important food source for our tupuna (ancestors) and they used to store the marakai in kumara pits or storehouses lined with ponga leaves to absorb moisture so that they would keep for a long time. In these photographs, our tamariki are helping to plant seeds, which they will nurture and care for till they are ready to pick and eat. 

Our tamariki have the understanding that if they wish to see their vegetables grow we have to take care of seedlings, water them daily, and to leave the seeds in the ground so that we can eat the fresh vegetables to help sustain and maintain our bodies in good health.

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