APS tamariki learning landscape: stories, sculptures, and harakeke

Our Vision

At Alexandra Primary School we have the opportunity to design a new playground for our tamariki (children). We would like this playground to be a unique and stimulating outdoor learning environment, that tells indigenous stories of the past, connects with our local area’s flora and fauna, and identifies our tūrangawaewae (our standing place).

Stories of the Past

Our playground will be designed to mimic our natural landmarks. We have two awa (rivers) - the Manuherekia and the Mata-Au (Clutha). We also have two prominent mauka (mountains) - Kopuwai and Haehaeata. There are Māori stories and legends associated to these features.

Māori hunting parties travelled through Central Otago and the area now known as Alexandra. At the junction of the two awa, kai (food) was plentiful, including tuna (eels) and manu (birds). The awa name Manuherekia is said to mean ‘tethered bird’ and it is believed that Māori used to tether birds near the awa to show where the kai could be found.

Moa also lived in the Central Otago area. Moa bones have been found at Galloway and other areas near Alexandra. Moa footprints were discovered at Kyeburn in 2019 (shown below). The footprints are being preserved at Tūhura Otago Museum and are estimated to be 3.6 million years old.

Photograph by Ian Griffin

Kopuwai, the mauka (mountain range) and in particular the schist tor pictured below, is named after a giant who preyed on humans with his pack of two-headed dogs. He kept a beautiful woman, Kaiamio, as a slave until she eventually escaped.

Kopuwai - photographed by Fiona Mackley

We have so many rich stories and legends that we would love to portray in our playground so that the history can be kept alive for our tamariki and their whānau (families).

Bringing the Stories Alive

In our playground we would like our tamariki to be able to discover replica moa footprints. Our aim is to have the footprints cast using the exact measurements of the footprints found at Kyeburn. We would ask an expert from the Tūhura Otago Museum to come and help teach our ākonga (learners) and our kaimahi (staff) about the footprints and also the moa who once lived in our area.

The beautiful bronze tuna (eel) sculptures shown on the cover for this application are made by sculptor James York (Ngāi Tahu). We would love similar sculptures in our playground that depict the kai that was once hunted and gathered by the Māori hunting parties who travelled through the area. We would also love to have some sculptures of the Central Otago roundhead galaxias (Galaxias anomalus) - a fish native to our Central Otago area and found in the Manuherekia River. Their conservation status is ‘Threatened - Nationally Vulnerable’. Having life-size sculptures of the fauna from our area would give our ākonga something tangible to touch and bring into their imaginative play.

Te Pā Harakeke

Surrounding our playground we will be planting harakeke (flax), so that we can have our own pā harakeke (flax grove). In the future we will be able to harvest the harakeke and use it for raranga (weaving). Recently our kaitiaki (gardener and guardian) taught a class how to weave a plant protector from harakeke. The class then took a Tī Kōuka (Cabbage Tree) as a koha (donation) to the Puketeraki Marae in Karitāne when they had a noho marae (marae stay).

We are also planning to build structures such as seating and benches near the pā harakeke so that there will be purposeful furniture for people to weave at. The photograph below provides inspiration. It shows part of the Pā Harakeke at the Auckland Botanical Gardens.

Other Special Projects

Our kura (school) has been ensuring that the projects we are involved in have a direct connection to nature and our local environment.

Currently our kaitiaki has been working with tamariki to construct a lizard-friendly garden. We hope that it will provide an example to our whānau and school visitors of how they could encourage lizards to live in their own gardens. We are very fortunate to have visited the Mokomoko Dryland Sanctuary which inspired the lizard-friendly garden. The photograph below was taken by Blake Scharlott (aged 10) of a Grand Skink while visiting the sanctuary.

Otago Skink - Blake Scharlott, aged 10.

Two years ago our Year 5 and 6 classes learnt how to attract and identify some of our native moths. They ran a community evening where whānau and our school community could come along to school and try to survey the moths. Ākonga guided visitors around our school gardens to show illustrations, information reports and clay models of moths, along with the unique native host plants that provide ideal habitats for our moths. Many native plants have been sourced and planted at our kura (school) to regenerate the flora that once flourished in our natural environment. The invitation is pictured to show you how well the event was planned as well as a photograph of the event.

Visitors to the Te Pā Tuhura Garden Expo (teaching the school community about our native moths and their host plants).

These examples are given to illustrate our school’s commitment to learning about and reestablishing our native flora and fauna. We do not want to design and construct a standard playground - we would like an original, purposeful facility that provides a distinctive way for our ākonga and school community to learn about our unique local flora and fauna, and the stories from our past that have shaped our present and future.