St Thomas of Canterbury CollegePasifika Report
Hi
Welcome to the new St Thomas website!
Important news and upcoming events will be shown here.
Up Coming Events
- Feb. 08, 2012 - SWIMMING SPORTS
About Us » Leadership » Pasifika Report
EDMUND RICE PASIFIKA LEADER 2011
Talofa lava, O lou igoa o Mathew Naoupu Elia. Ua atoa gei 7 o ou tausaga I le aoga St Tomasi. Ou te faafetai lava I le alofa ou matua, aiga, faiaoga ma au uo mo le feasosoagi I le taimi na ou aoga ai. O le tausaga na ou amata ai ole 2005. E tele mea na ou maua mai i le aoga taimi na ou tuputupu ai, e le gata na ou maua mai ai le atamai ma le poto ae na ou maua mai foi uo ou te faatasi ai i lou aloga atoa. O lou lasi upu mo ou uso e lei uma aoga; ia taumafai i soo se mea, e le gata le taaloga ae maise lava i totonu o le aoga, aua le palai i so'o se mea ae tuu uma ai lou malosi.
From the first year at St Thomas' there was only a small amount of Pasifika students hovering about. As years have gone by the Pasifika role has increased from 22 to 56 students. In the school we have boys from countries all over the Pacific Ocean: Samoa, Tonga, Niue, Cook Island, Fiji and Tokelau.
This year has been one tough year to enhance the pacific culture within the school and community. In the previous year's one of the main events our culture group was involved in was Polyfest, a week of celebration of all Polynesian cultures and a night of performances from schools around the region and south island. Unfortunately this year we were unable to carry on our outstanding success in this festival due to the disruption of the earthquake but we were still able to come together to perform a small performance at the 50th Jubilee assembly and the end of the year prize giving. Even thou it wasn't a full performance, I'm certain that our performance had shown the school and community a glimpse of the Polynesian flavor within the school.
This year with the help of Mr Barclay, Mr Kidd and Mr Auimatagi we were able to start up a Literacy Programme which had helped out the juniors (years 7-10) to assist with their literacy and help out with their struggles of being bilingual. This programme has been very successful; the boys came out of every session with happy faces and a better understanding. From the small amount of Pacific students within the school, we were still able to produce a number of achievements from our Pasifika students.
An enormous thanks goes out to Mr Peri Petelo our Samoan teacher who is the glue of the Pasifika culture within the school and without Mr Petelo the Pasifika culture wouldn't be where it is now. Also to Mr Hart, Mr Kidd, Mr Barclay for bringing the boys together and ensuring that we are on our best behavior at all times. Lastly, to Albany Paseta (Mr P1) for his assistance and support he has offered the culture group throughout the year.
Manuia lava le tausaga fou, soifua ma ia manuia.