Joy, laughter, fun, performances, learning experiences – that is what Samoan Language Week brought to our school.
The week began on Monday, Week 8 of Term 2. At Principal’s Assembly, our Principal, Dr Hinchco told the students a little bit about what was going to happen in the week. Two students spoke in Samoan then we raised the New Zealand flag and the Samoan flag. The rest of the week the rooms with Samoan teachers prepared performances which they performed on Friday. There were many activities going on around the school, for example there was a competition for cracking, scraping and squeezing the juice out of a coconut and there were also sports and games going on around the field. There were 5 classes who took part in the activities and performed. They had their own names and had made their own flags too.
There were three guest speakers – one was a fireman who spoke about his 23 years of service, a comedian also came and spoke and so did an artist.
The students really enjoyed performing in front of other classes and felt proud to be a Samoan.
Through that week every day in the morning a teacher would say a proverb over the intercom. All of the students understood what was happening and really enjoyed being a part of the first ever Papatoetoe Intermediate School Samoan Language Week.
By Osheen Gill
Room 6
