New Pasifika class a big success

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By Frank Neill

The new class for Pasifika students at Wainuiomata Intermediate School is receiving a lot of very positive feedback, the teacher Eleanor McLeod says.

Called Tamaiti o le Pasifika – Children of the Pacific, it is the school’s first special purpose class with a focus on Pasifika culture and one of the very few in the Wellington region.

“Our focus is around building Pacific Island culture and identity,” Ms McLeod says.

It is not a language nest, mainly because the 26 year 7 and 8 students in the class are from eight different Pacific Island ethnicities. That makes the class very representative of people from the Pacific Islands in the Wainuiomata community.

One of the reasons the school leadership and Board of Trustees wanted to have a Pasifika class was “because they had noticed that a lot of Pasifika students had been awarded prizes at the end of year prizegiving.

“If they had an environment where their success was rewarded even more, what would that look like down the track in terms of success.

“If we can nurture and hone the knowledge and skills these children have, who knows where it will lead to,” Ms McLeod says.

Tamaiti o le Pasifika aimed to do “whatever we can do so the students build a strong sense of identity in who they are, so they can stand in their own skin and succeed at whatever they want to do.”

Early in the year, as part of building a strong sense of identity, the class had an assignment where children built their family trees and presented them to the class.

“The family trees assignment was a biggie

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33. Put on clothes (3) that my students really took to,” Ms Mcleod says.

“What they presented were beautiful pieces of work.

“And they had a lot of support from their families.”

One of the initiatives Ms McLeod has been working on is bringing people from the community into the class – for example someone with expertise in Cook Island headwear accessories.

“Because this is a brand new class I have had to work on networking and bringing in various providers.

“I do believe it takes a village.

“We have so many people in our community who are able to nurture these students.

“It’s not just me at the head of the classroom.”

Ms McLeod has, for example, secured a tutor to work with the Pasifika performance group – a recent performing arts graduate.

All 26 students in the class are involved in two performance groups – the Pacific Island performance group and the school’s Kapa Haka group, which is preparing for the Kapa Haka festival at the end of this school term.

“A lot of the students play and belong to sporting groups, such as Tamaiti o le Maunga – the local Samoan Rugby League Club, and playing in the Pacific Cup.

“All of this helps to bring out pride in our culture and who we are,” Ms McLeod says. One of the measures that had demonstrated the success of Tamaiti o le Pasifika has been the positive feedback.

Another is that the class had a waiting list at the beginning of the year, and looks highly likely to have a waiting list for next year’s class.

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Last Week: 17 May 2023