Treaty of Waitangi Day

On Friday 8th of Feb Barrhill, Coleridge, Double and Mt Hutt Rooms had a day of learning about the Treaty of Waitangi.  We started off our learning walking around a huge map of NZ on our fields.

We looked at the major cities around NZ and where the Treaty was signed.  We were put into groups Maori or British and we acted out the signing of the treaty.  We then talked about our MPS treeline and what rules we needed to make it fair and safe for all.  We then made up a treaty for the treeline for all classes to sign and use.

Here are some facts we found out during our day of learning:

Did you know:

• The Treaty was the first New Zealand founding document. 
• In the 1830s there were around 100,000 Maori and 200 Pakeha who were mainly whalers living in New Zealand.
• In 1835 James Busby drew up the treaty. 
• In 1840 the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by 500 Maori chiefs.
• There were two versions of treaty, one was in Maori the other English.  These were not in direct translation with each other.  
• There were 9 copies made of the treaty.  These copies were then sent around New Zealand for the Maori chiefs to sign.  Only one of the copies was written in English.