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This is a hugely popular event on our house competition calendar.  The haka was written by Daniel Hāpuku in 2014, and he returned as a judge for this year’s tense competition.  Daniel is an experienced and respected former kaiako (teacher), and long time friend of Mount Hutt College. Matua Hapuku said he was deeply moved by the performances and congratulated the students on how far they had come, he said simply, the performanThis week Mount Hutt College held their fourth annual Haka Wero (Haka Challenge) competition.  ces were bloody awesome, with only one point separating each house.

Each house had to create their own creative version of the haka and the kura waiata (song).  The students had kaiako mentors, and the junior and senior leaders contributed to the group practices and choreography.  Taiaha, patu and poi all featured as parts of the performances.  The winners were chosen by scores for criteria which included: volume, pronunciation, tune, participation and impact. The results for 2025 were Kākāriki (Green) first, followed by a tie for second with Kōura (Gold) and Kahurangi (Blue), and Whero (Red) fourth.

Kaiako organiser, and Head of the Māori and English departments at MHC, Ms Jenna Chenery, said the purpose of the event was to honour our bicultural partnership with Te Ao Māori.  “Our kura is committed to supporting our students in their passion for learning te reo, and participating in Māori performing arts.”  Principal Jack Saxon shared that it was truly inspiring to have students showing integrity and passion for Māori language and culture, and commended the performances of Apirihama Tahi-Nathan and Finn McGrath for their leadership in the winning performance.

Once the Kākāriki Whare kaimahi (Green House Student Leaders) accepted their taonga for first place, the entire school performed the haka once more as a celebration of the pride and unity created through the shared experience.