St Clair Primary School kapa haka group, Tītike, shone during their Polyfest performance this week thanks, in part, to new costumes woven by whānau and friends of the school.

Principal Jen Rodgers put out the call for helpers to weave 30 tāniko pōkinikini (chokers) for the tamāhine (girls) and 32 kākahu (cloaks) for the tama (boys).

Some who answered the call had taken a kākahu weaving night course run by Marc Taura at St Clair School last year, others had learned previously, and many had never done traditional weaving before.

Whaea Jen  made the most of helper’s talents and time with an efficient ‘factory line’ of activity, allocating cutting of whenu (warp) and aho (weft) threads, or feather preparation, casting on, weaving or finishing off.

Thanks to this efficient approach, the kākahu were made in just two months.

St Clair School pupils were resplendent in their new costumes during their Polyfest performance this week. Photo: Supplied

Ashleigh Bradford and her partner Te Paraone Vosper helped in support of their sons Nohia (10) and Awa (8) Vosper — both members of the Tītike group.

Ms Bradford said the couple stepped up because “Jen said the kids needed a uniform”.

“She is such a dedicated principal, to the school and to its kapa haka, so of course we started turning up. A group of us came together every week.

“I learned how to weave and how to prepare feathers so the ends could be woven in,” she said.

“It all had real whānau feels and brought us closer together.”

Because it coincided with his recovery from knee surgery, Mr Paraone was able to immerse himself in the kākahu project.

“I didn’t know how to weave before — I do now,” he said.

“I lost count of how many kākahu I worked on. My grandmother was a weaver — always on the marae weaving. It is great to have reconnected with her in this way.”

Jan Hoeta-Davies, grandmother of George (8) and Sophia (6), also found a sense of reconnection as she helped weave the diamond-shaped pātiki (flounder) designs into the tāniko pōkinikini.

“I used to weave long ago, and Jen has got me back into it again,” she said.

Ms Hoeta-Davies’ own son, Joel Davies, took last year’s weaving course and transferred those skills to this project including “prepping hundreds and hundreds of feathers”.

St Clair School board presiding member Robert Choveaux said the Tītike rōpū was important for whānau Māori around the school’s tūrangawaewae (locale).

“To have their own uniform made in this way is incredible,” he said.

St Clair School pupils rehearse in their new costumes last weekend. Photo: supplied

All St Clair School pupils have always taken part in Polyfest performances.

The Tītike group goes a step further, led by music teacher Ali Caldwell and kaiako kapahaka Tōmuri Spicer.

Mr Spicer said the Tītike group learned advanced kapa haka, “with the kids learning the kaupapa and tīkanga  behind it all, so it’s more than performance.”

Mr Caldwell said the Tītike kapa haka group had been going for three years and was now the largest it had ever been.

“Some of the members coming through are showing leadership both within the group and outside of it in the wider school,” he said.