Puketeraki Kāhui Ako - Visual Story Jam

Storytelling has been around for thousands of years. We tell stories to entertain, inform, and share cultural traditions and values. ​

Poetry is a type of literature that conveys a thought, describes a scene, or tells a story in a concentrated, lyrical arrangement of words. Visual poetry arranges images in the same way, conveying whakaaro / thought, pūrākau / stories, and whēnua / places.

The first of the workshops was a playful one where ākonga learnt visual storytelling skills from master photographer Mandi Lynn, from Click Happy Photography. 

In this workshop, Mandi encouraged ākonga to “have a keen eye” when taking photos. Ākonga amplified their skills by learning about leading lines, framing in a frame, and taking monochromatic images. 

The second workshop focussed on what makes a good photograph great.

Ākonga learnt about the rule of thirds, establishing shots, medium shots, two shots, close-ups, over-the-shoulder shots, low and high-angle shots, and the editing tools available on iPhones and iPads.

Using the skills taught by Mandi, ākonga set off to use their keen eye to hunt out images that use lines, frames, blurred images and other Click Happy skills. 

Once the photos had been taken, they were printed, framed, and had a poetic story added to each image. Ākonga celebrated their learning with a visual story exhibition displayed in The Chamber Gallery in the Rangiora library.

“I’ve learnt so much, I couldn’t even take a basic photo without it being blurry or weird. Literally, everything I’ve learnt has been new learning for me.”

Elin, Sefton School

“I’ve learnt how to take better photos and I never knew about editing until this workshop.”

Sophie, Sefton School

“Taking all the photos and learning the proper photography way, using grids and taking a closer look at everything before you take the photograph has been really good.”

Emme, Sefton School

The aim of this workshop was to empower kaiako and ākonga to celebrate and share the cultural narrative of the Puketeraki rohe/region.

“Each school is unique and has its own strengths. Like manu in ngāhere it is not about all becoming the same, rather contributing our own sound to the waiata o te ngāhere.”

Suzi Gould, Grow Waitaha facilitator

This whakataukī guided ākonga to identify something in their kura that makes it unique:

E koekoe te tūī, e ketekete te kākā, e kūkū te kererū. The tūī sings, the kākā chatters, the kererū coos.

Ākonga selected unique photographs of the Puketeraki rohe to exhibit at The Chamber Gallery. Guests were invited to the gallery to celebrate their work. 

A tremendous community celebration event at The Chamber Gallery concluded this three-day collaborative learning experience.

QR codes invited gallery visitors to view photographs using the Book Creator app.

Year 10 rangatahi from Te Kura Tuarua o Rangiora | Rangiora High School were invited to open the exhibition. Ākonga, their whānau, and kaiako, together with members of the Rangiora community, witnessed the beautifully performed Puketeraki waiata.  

“It was pretty interesting, and I enjoyed it a lot.”

“There were some very nice photos of flowers and one very different photo that was cool of the plane. I don’t know how they did that.”

Rangiora High School rangatahi

Rangatahi engaged in a conversation with the photographer of the plane and learnt that he had used ‘cap cut’ overlays and transparency skills to get his final piece. 

"I'm taking a class right now at school on photography which is really cool. I might look at using cap cuts in that.”

Rangiora High School rangatahi

The celebration event was attended by many. It was evident that these workshops had been a win/win for all who participated.

“Motivation for storytelling using photography is a great way to hook students into different types of writing. There are lots of writing opportunities after this workshop for these children to go and do.”

Amy, Te Koromiko Swannanoa School kaiako

The Rangiora library, who hosted these workshops, was thrilled with the reaction from staff and community members. Paula Eskett, the District Libraries Manager for the Waimakariri District Council, received many comments and compliments about how ākonga were learning and the technology they were using.

“It has been a really positive thing for my team and the community to look at what learning looks and sounds like. This place has been buzzing with energy and the feedback from our community has been beautiful.”

Paula Eskett, District Libraries Manager

“The workshops being run here at Rangiora Library is my thing. Bringing the library to life, letting the library be a platform for the community to do what the community wants to do in here, and let us facilitate it, we can provide the people to help. These workshops have nailed it for me.” 

Paula Eskett, District Libraries Manager

• “Try your best. It doesn’t matter if you get things wrong.” Georgia, Sefton School
  
  

• “Use angles and editing skills to make your photos better.” April, Sefton School
  
  
• “Learn how to edit photos and remove backgrounds. Take some close-ups.” Fletcher, Te Koromiko Swannanoa School
  
  
• “Remember it will be alright, you can go back and edit it again and you will improve and get a lot better. It saves taking millions of retakes if you can just edit.” Elin, Sefton School
  
  
• “Give it a go! It can be a bit hard but if you don’t give it a go, you won’t know how much fun it is.” Emme, Sefton School