A full theatre of hundreds of whānau and students joined in the joy and celebratory mood as the efforts of twenty students and two and a half days of intense creative work came into full fruition. The final performance that rounded off the Tukutuku (meaning “weaving together”) residency on the joint campus of Shirley Boys High, Avonside Girls High, and the Ferndale Satellite celebrated the diverse skills and abilities of all who took part. 

“I’ve not worked with the students from Ferndale to this extent before. I’ve performed for them but not interacted this much with them,” said Shirley Boys High student Cooper Gibb-Faumuina, who plays in the school band and acted as MC (amongst other roles) for the performance at the end of the residency. “It was cool how easily people got together, and getting to hang out with the Ferndale guys. It’s comfortable. I’m really enjoying it, just being able to interact with them and make original music.” 

One of the songs created especially for the project was written by Caite Mitchell, a dance student at Avonside Girls High who lives with cerebral palsy. Titled only “Caite’s Song”, the refrain declares: “I’m more than my chair.” Another student, Kieran Inwood, set the lyrics to music.

Student Sean Lean-Massey said he wanted to be involved in the project to show how special people with disabilities can be. “It’s been a lot of work but very rewarding and fun,” he said about putting together and rehearsing the programme. Usually, a school show took weeks to prepare. “It’s been really cool seeing the capabilities of someone who is in a wheelchair, but they can still enjoy themselves and dance.”

Avonside Girls High student Isana Yazdani, who is both a dancer and a pianist, loved “being able to make connections with people that I haven’t had the opportunity to previously.” 

Though Tukutuku only took place over three days, its ramifications are much longer lasting. “It’s really broadened the opportunities for our students to work alongside their peers and build meaningful connections,” said Ferndale teacher Jo Allan. The dynamics of the relationships amongst the participants had changed greatly from the start, when “we were all quite nervous, to now, when they’re seeing the other students and can greet each other easily. They’re looking at them as people first. Hopefully, it’s formed a lovely foundation for future interaction and collaboration.” 

Through the project, which was student led but with guidance and mentoring from CSO musicians and Jolt tutors, doors have been opened up for new ways of working together. “It’s been really hard for the dance students and teachers at the school to find ways to include [Caite], but we’ve been quite inspired watching how Jolt does it,”said Victoria Shaw, Avonside Girls High’s Head of Learning Area – Arts. “We hope that Tukutuku will be a catalyst to make collaboration between Ferndale, Avonside Girls and Shirley Boys stronger and bigger. ” The schools nominated a range of students from Years 9-13 to take part with the hope that they will bring back what they’ve learned to the rest of the school and also become leaders in collaboration in the future.