Mālō e lelei,

Last week, we celebrated Tongan Language Week. It was such a special week where we were able to learn about the beautiful Tongan culture. Throughout the week we learned about the meaning behind traditional clothing, greetings and key phrases, some parts of history and were lucky to watch a special dance performance from current and past students and family members. From talking with our students they have let me know…

‘I felt really proud to wear Tongan clothes last week. I was able to walk with pride in my beautiful clothes.’

‘I felt excited because I got to show everyone what you usually wear on a daily basis in Tonga.’

‘I feel really honoured this term. The first time I came here I only knew two Tongans. The school has really improved this year and I am really proud that I now see other Tongans sharing our culture.’

’I liked performing at assembly because I got to show them my dance and share my culture.’

Seeing the absolute buzz in the air as we celebrated this one culture really made me reflect on how we can do better to actively recognise and celebrate other cultures we have in our school. We are so fortunate to have a diverse school family, and  want every single student to feel that they can bring their culture inside our school gates. If you have any ideas on how we could genuinely acknowledge your culture, please let your child’s teacher or myself know. This could be through artworks to be created and displayed in our school, lessons, shows or even upskilling us on key information that we need to be mindful of. 

We have a new adaption to our uniform and will be introducing a Ta’ovala/lavalava for our students to wear. While we are in the production stages of this, our students are able to wear a navy / black Ta’ovala/lavalava in the meantime. For our Year 6 students, they are able to wear their navy or black ones for the rest of the year. Our students are very excited about this development!

At Te Kura o Te Mātāpuna we continue to reflect on our practice, learn from prior experiences and do our best to ensure we are providing the best possible education for our students. A few on top topics and professional development areas for our team are Maths teaching and engagement, assessment and moderation, behaviour management and feedback on learning / marking work. Thank you to our teachers for your hard work, reflective practice and dedication to our students. 

Last week, some of our senior students had the opportunity to participate in the North West Zone Winter Tournament at Hagley Park. It was fantastic to see the wonderful sportsmanship on display from our students. A massive congratulations to our ‘A’ Netball team for qualifying for the PSC Winter Tournament next week - this is a fantastic achievement. Thank you so much Miss Taggart for the huge amount of time you have put into preparing our teams for this event. 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Sophia Roulston

Tumuaki / Principal