Te Puke Primary School was the only school representing the district at Te Waka Pererua–ngā Kapa Haka Kura Tuatahi o Tauranga Moana last week.

The Tauranga Moana Primary School Regional Kapa Haka Competition was held at Mercury Arena, Baypark, last Friday.

The school’s kapa haka lead teacher, Liam Van der Drift, said the group was asked to be part of the ngahau section in support of the main competition, following its performance at Te Puke’s Matariki celebrations in July.

“It’s a huge honour for us to be asked to attend the regionals,” he said.

The group gave the second performance of the day-long event.

“It was a long day, but it was an awesome experience for our kids.

“My biggest reflection was how much work the kids put into it to get on the stage and leave it all out there.

The start of Te Puke Primary School's performance.

“They were amazing, they were everything that we talked about in the build up to it and I was super-stoked.”

Liam said his views were shared by others.

“We had awesome feedback from people in the crowd and whānau.

“I spoke to some of the people who were watching and they were really impressed with what our kids did and didn’t realise that our school had the ability to perform the way that they did.”

The group was rewarded for its efforts with the taonga for the best mōteatea.

Waiata mōteatea are traditional old chants, says Liam.

“They are supposed to be a sad rendition of a story or portrayal of emotions.”

Te Kura o Te Moutere o Matakana won the ngahau side of the competition and, as a result, will move up to the full competition at the next regionals.

Eve Bowker on stage at Te Waka Pererua.

But not winning overall didn’t take anything away from Te Puke Primary School’s achievement.

“It was just an awesome experience for our kids to be able to be on stage and represent the Te Puke region and Te Arawa waka in that way.”

A dress rehearsal on Wednesday last week doubled as a chance to perform in front of the school.

Liam says it gave those students unable to go and support the group at the event a chance to see the performance.

“It was also good exposure for the kids to have a dress rehearsal and perform in front of other people before they performed in front of a larger crowd.”

The group prepared for its Matariki celebration performance for 10 weeks before the event and then had another eight weeks of practice before Te Waka Pererua.

“It was awesome to have the support of our school and senior leadership team to make it so that we got the right amount of practices in to be able to deliver the performance, and of course our whānau as well – all the hard work they do.”