I live in a special place

When the tide is high you cannot reach my home

At low and half tide you can drive around the reef to the seaweed pickers huts where I live

Sometimes when there is much seaweed we stay on the reef for weeks

We collect sea weed and lie it in the sun to dry

I can find paua in the guts inside the reef

I know how to use the knife but I haven’t yet learnt how to use a pencil

I notice many things in my world - the changing shapes in the sand

The sea is not always blue

I know about hiding

We are a community

Sometimes one isout of place

Ahipara is where I will start school

How will you teach me I know how to hold the knife carefully to cut the that the paus How will my world knowledge help me to learn, when I walk through your school gates? Are you ready for me?

Maybe my alphabet could be: paua instead of pig or reef rather than racoon

WEEKEND STORY I went to the beach doesn’t really work for me

I could start my story with the different tracks in the sand ……

OR Many shells …………..

I could tell you lots about the seaweed

How do you get to know your learners?

Nau te rourou naku te rourou Ka ora ai te iwi With your food basket and my food basket the people will thrive