Our team

Introducing our team - The Famous Five (Room 5), Matamata Intermediate School

Room 5 is a Year 7-8 composite class made up of 29 amazing students. In term four of this year (2014) we were given “Roots of my Family Tree” as a theme for our inquiry. Being a school which values traditions, culture and respect for others, it didn’t take long for our class to decide on and design our inquiry around the history and heritage of Matamata town and district (our ‘roots’).
Students became investigators and storytellers, collaborating with each other to research Matamata district’s history and heritage, and in doing so we were able to develop an understanding of how the past has not only been preserved, but how it continues to play a role in shaping Matamata district in present day. During the inquiry process students were given the opportunity to spend time with elders in the community and to speak with locals with expert knowledge of the area. Students were also challenged to locate/access information from a wider range of resources. This proved very challenging. As a class we then worked collaboratively to write, and publish our findings to this wonderful site – Living Heritage, Tikanga Tuku Iho.
We hope you enjoy learning about our small part of the world and sharing our stories.