Ceremony for the Blessing and Turning of the Land
Friday 12th February 2016
Early Friday morning, West Melton staff, BoT members and students of the school, attended the
blessing of our new build site. As well as Daphne O'Connell, Chair of the
Kaumatua Council, Margaret Joans, the Kaumatua Deputy Chair and our local
Kaumatua, Patrick Nutira and Denise Sheat.
Justin Tipa, the Kaikarakia, performed the ceremony for us, with a
waiata 'He Hōnore' at the beginning. Once Justin led us into the site, our
Head Students Alessandra & Bella were asked to dig a piece of soil and
keep until the new building is complete, where it will be returned to the
land.
We finished with another waiata, 'Whakaaria Mai'. At the end of
the ceremony we returned for a cup of tea and light refreshments.
Thank you to Liz Brown, the Education Sub-Committee Leader for the Te Taumutu Rūnanga, for organising the blessing.
Liz Brown, Denise Sheat, Justin Tipa, Patrick Nutira
