Cultural
Pasifika at Te Aratai College
Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Ni sa Bula, Kia Orana and Pasifika blessings to you all.
What a year it has been with the many different events happening both in and outside of school. The “busyness” has given opportunities for our students to be able to represent their cultural identity and also celebrate all the Pasifika Islands too.
In school, we have celebrated our Pasifika language weeks through events held during these weeks like Kilikiti (Sāmoan cricket), our market days, our Pasifika assemblies, scholarship/cultural workshops, Tamai schools program and having students proudly wear their cultural clothing.
Outside of school, we have performed at Polyfest (First time as Te Aratai), participated in the local Sāmoan speech competition, Hosted both the SPACPAC awards and speech competition and been part of a growing sporting scene with our talented athletes.
All these have helped create and strengthen Pasifika culture and identity as part of Te Aratai College but more importantly leave it in a good space for the future to build on.
Some highlights from our students and staff this year:
Talofa Polyfest is definitely one of the most exciting highlights in school! It's an amazing event where students from different cultural backgrounds come together to showcase their unique traditions through music, dance, and performances. It's a time to embrace and appreciate the rich diversity that exists within our school community. The best part is seeing the pride and joy on the faces of our fellow students as they perform on stage, showcasing their heritage and talent. Being a leader in Polyfest and teaching the Pacific students about the culture is such a remarkable experience. It allows me to showcase my knowledge, skills, and passion while fostering a sense of unity and understanding among their peers. You'll have the opportunity to inspire and empower others, helping them appreciate the richness and diversity of different traditions. It's a chance to create lasting memories, build connections and promote cultural appreciation within your school community.
Clara Lam, Year 13
One of my highlights this year was being involved in helping our Pasifika in our aoga with teaching the dances for the Polyfest, Festival of Nations and Tamai Cultural Festival. I love it so much because it was a way for me to give back to my Kolisi, Te Aratai.
Alexsandra Laufiso, Year 13
As a first year beginner teacher, it has been an honour and a journey of learning that has built an amazing opportunity to see so many of our students thrive and continue to build in their learning. It has been a privilege to be part of our Pasifika community at the Kolisi o Te Aratai. There have been so many fantastic highlights throughout this year. One that stood out for me this year and first time ever would be Polyfest as part of the Kolisi o Te Aratai. The hard work that was put into the practices during tamaiti aoga time, that led into an amazing strong performance that showed grace, leadership, cultural values, celebration and richness of who they are and their identity. This shows throughout our Te Aratai Community.
Mrs Victoria Leitch, Pasifika staff
Tatalo i le atua ina ia puipui ma ia manuia le isi la’asaga fou o la outou olaga. Po o fea o le kolopa o le a e aga’i iai, ia faia mea uma ma le fiafia, aua e te fefe ma tatalo i le Atua i aso uma. Manuia le Kirisimasi ma le tausaga fou.
Totoa Scholarship Celebration
This award is an acknowledgement of students excelling in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) subjects. The Toloa Secondary School Scholarships aim to inspire and support Pacific students in their engagement with STEAM .
Toloa supports Pacific Peoples in STEAM pathways over a whole-of-life approach from ECE, primary, intermediate, secondary, and tertiary through to the workforce. Toloa’s Vision is to make a transformational impact in the communities we live in.
Congratulations and Malo le tauivi to Alexsandra and Dormay Laufiso.
Pasifika Celebration Evening
On 25th of October, we honoured our students at the Pasifika Celebration for 2023. This is a night for staff, students and their Aiga to come together to celebrate academic achievement, cultural contribution to school, attendance and students who continue to represent our school ngā uara with pride.
This evening from Years 7-13, we were able to present over 40 awards to Pasifika students in our Pasifika way, acknowledgements which highlighted their hard work, consistency in the classroom, their positive attitude, respect and alofa which are all key values and traits in our cultural identity. As well as these awards, we also presented leavers certificates to our Pasifika Year 13s who are moving on from school to their next adventure. Also part of the celebration were some
performances from our students and staff in the form of a saxophone and piano duet by Perita and Vai and a siva by a mix of our junior and senior students. One of the highlights of this evening was being able to have our senior staff and special guests present our awards and scholarships to the students with their families and for students to be proud in their cultural clothing. There were a lot of big smiles.
Malo le taumafai, malo foi le onosai i meaaoga mo lenei tausaga.
Tamai Cultural Festival
The celebration of harvest dances by Te Aratai College was a harmonious fusion of traditional dances, poi dance, Pasifika dance, Nepali dance, Brazilian dance, Bhangra-Harvest dance and hip-hop dances. The event succeeded in fostering a sense of belonging and understanding among the participants and the audience alike. The energy exuded by the performers was infectious, resonating throughout the packed Te Puna hall of Te Aratai College.
Festival of Nations
This year’s Festival of Nations celebration on 20th October was a fantastic event, with two special assemblies and guest speakers, food from all over the world, and an afternoon filled with hours of amazing cultural performances by students and visitors.
The unique diversity of our kura was on display throughout the event, from set up to pack down. The outdoor carnival atmosphere made the day very special, and it would not have been possible without the participation of our supportive Te Aratai community, students and staff.
Thank you for making it such a great day. We can’t wait to celebrate again next year!
Pasifika Leaders' Breakfast
On Friday 3rd of November, SPACPAC hosted the Pasifika leadership breakfast for 2023 where we were able to celebrate our Year13s who showed excellence in their respective schools.
The morning started with guest speakers Melissa Lama and Dietrich Soakai sharing their experiences about being bold and never giving up and some important traits you should be aware of such as respect, honesty and self-awareness. Their words brought encouragement to our leaders and their families and after this, we were then able to celebrate them.
We were happy to acknowledge Alexsandra Laufiso and Clara Lam along with their families, their achievements. They have been exemplary for our Pasifika students to look to as leaders but also serve with a smile and with humility. We wish them well as they move on to the next part of their journey.
Manuia tapenaga mo suega, faapea fo’i fuafuaga totoe o lenei tausaga.
Pasifika Language Weeks 2023
A big part of supporting culture and language at Te Aratai College is by celebrating our Pasifika language weeks. Throughout these weeks, students have put together resources and events that have been shared and used by staff and students.
Through Sāmoan Language week we held a market day with Sāmoan food and a day of kilikiti (cricket). In Tongan language week students put posters up on different ways to greet and count in Tongan and for many of the language weeks, students chose to represent our islands by dressing up in their cultural attire. Staff also participated by wearing some cultural clothing, printing and learning with pasifika students the names of the days and months in different languages and answering Pasifika questions for prizes. All these ways of engagement, helped encourage Pasifika learners to understand their identity but more importantly as a school, to embrace our diversity.
Some of the Pasifika language weeks we celebrated for 2023:
Rotuman: Sunday 7 May – Saturday 13 May
Samoa: Sunday 28 May – Saturday 03 June
Kiribati: Sunday 09 July – Saturday 15 July
Cook Islands: Sunday 30 July – Saturday 05 August
Tonga: Sunday 03 September – Saturday 09 September
Tuvalu: Sunday 01 October – Saturday 07 October
Fijian: Sunday 08 October – Saturday 14 October
Niue: Sunday 15 October – Saturday 21 October
Tokelau: Sunday 22 October – Saturday 28 October.
In 2024, there will be 2 new Pasifika language weeks added which will be Solomon Islands Pidgin and Papua New Guinea Tok Pisin.
Polyfest
On the 18th of March we participated at Canterbury Polyfest 2023. Polyfest is a day of celebration where students and many of the schools around Canterbury get to showcase Pasifika culture, song and dance to Christchurch. There were over 5,000 people in attendance and over 50 Pasifika stalls offering Pasifika arts and crafts, various businesses and of course, Island food. This year was special as it was the first time it was held at North Hagley Park and first ever as Te Aratai College.
We had a strong group of 33 Pasifika students who danced and represented our Kolisi well on the stage and had an absolute blast. The energy and passion to perform for their culture and family, was a big motivator. This year the performance set was made by our Year 13s who put in a lot of hours creating and teaching the performance.
Fuataimi: Israel Moevao
Fa’aluma: Tafesilafai Auina
Taupou: Eti Ah Loe
2023 Tutors/Leaders: Alexsandra Laufiso, Clara Lam, Tafesilafai Auina, Eti Ah Loe, Tiu Takai, Israel Moevao
Band: Isi Ngauamo, Clark Lam, Mr Pesefea
