A community meeting for Tongan parents and teachers was recently held on Thursday 12 November in the Library and it was great to see and meet new faces as part of SCC family. The discussion in the meeting was centred on the Home work centre, the Tongan Polyfest group and the arrangement for Term 1, 2016.
The parents were invited to help out in the Home Work Centre and concerns were raised about the lack of home work that students take home as well as the need to help out with the English learning of the newly arrived students from the islands. Parents were also informed about SCC Tongan group being the host for the Tongan Stage in 2016 Polyfest and the wish of the Tongan group to focus only on their hosting role. As such, the Tongan group will not feature a performing group next year. Other matters that were raised will be looked at to see how best the Home work centre can cater for needs raised. The NCEA results so far for the Tongan students were shared and the parents were happy to know that most students are tracking well in their achievements.
The Community Fakataha for the Tongan Parents and Teachers of SCC is now held FOUR times a year, and that is one meeting per Term. The first meeting for 2016 will be in Term One, Thursday 18th February 2016. This meeting is for all Tongan parents who have children attending SCC in 2016 from Years 7-13. Invitations will be sent out to parents of all Tongan students and an overview of the 2015 NCEA achievement of SCC and the Tongan students specifically will be presented. Information on the support and programmes that the school has put in place for Pasifika students to help them accelerate and to engage with their learning and achievement especially with the quality of their passes such as Merits and Excellences will also be given out. Parents will also be put in small groups to discuss any issues or opinions in relation to their children’s learning as we are keen to continuously improve our response to student’s learning needs and parents’ concerns. There are several Tongan staff members at SCC who will also be available during the Term Community fakataha to assist any parents in relation to subject concerns. These teachers are fluent in Tongan and the meetings are conducted in the Tongan language. We encourage all parents to come along to these meetings and contribute to building a closer relationship with the school and staff so that we can all work closely together for the success of our students, Ke Tākanga ‘etau fohe, kae lavame’a ‘etau fanau ‘i he ako ‘oku nau fakahoko.
Lata ‘Akau’ola Langi
TIC Tongan Language
Ph: (09) 2550404 ext. 838
Na’e faiako ‘i he ngaahi ‘Apiako Kolisi´, va’a ‘o e Silapa pea mo e Kolisi Fakafaiako ‘a Tonga ‘i he ngaahi ta’u lahi ‘i he lesoni Siokalafi kimu’a ia pea toki hiki mai ki Nu’usila´ ni. ‘Oku´ ne lolotonga tokanga’i ‘a e tafa’aki ki he Lea faka-Tonga ‘a e ‘apiako´ ‘a ia ko e lesoni ‘oku ako’i mei he Levolo 7 ki he 13. Ko e fakakoloa ‘a e lava ke ako’i ‘etau lea´, he ‘oku tokoni lahi ia ki he fakakaukau´, ngāue ‘a e ‘atamai e fanau´, fetu’utaki mo hotau fāmili mo e kainga´, fakalakalaka faka-sosiale´, mo faka’ulungaanga´. Ko kinautolu ‘oku poto he lea ‘e ua pe tolu,’oku lahiange ‘a e ngaahi faingamālie fakangāue ‘oku ‘atā kia kinautolu pea ko e taukei ko’eni´ ‘oku fiema’u ia ‘i he tapa kotoa pē ‘o e ngāue´. Fetu’utaki mai kiai fekau’aki mo ha fa’ahinga tokoni fekau’aki mo e lea faka-Tonga, ako ‘a e fanau, mo ha fiema’u ki he ngaahi me’a faka-komuiti´.
Tevita Kaufusi
Cultural Co-ordinator
Ph.: 255-0404
