Week 8 Term 3: Totara House: Uike Kātoanga'i 'o e lea faka-Tonga 2025 (September 01 - September 05)

Tongan Language Week 2025

In Week 6 of Term 3 we celebrated Uike Kātoanga'i 'o e lea faka-Tonga (tongan Language Week). The 2025 theme for Tonga Language Week is ‘Ko 'etau lea, ko e fe’unu mahu’inga ia ki he mo’ui ‘a e Tonga' (Our language is a vital strand of our Tongan culture.) Throughout the week we treated by our Tongan staff and students who shared their culture with us through devotion, the singing of hymns, sharing their cultural lineage and history and of course with food. 

Totara House Tongan Group 2025 @ rehearsal 

An important part of the language week was understanding the theme ‘Ko 'etau lea, ko e fe’unu mahu’inga ia ki he mo’ui ‘a e Tonga' (Our language is a vital strand for our Tongan culture.) Mrs Suipi Latu - a teacher, Head of Learning for English (Language) and a pillar within the Tongan Community shared with us the importance of the language. She shared that the Tongan culture is one that has many layers but the language is the thread, the fiber, that connects it all together. This made me reflect on my journey with Gagana Samoa and how I am investing in learning more about Gagana Samoa. What Mrs Suipi Latu shared resonated with me in that I can see how important it is to know, learn, seek, understand, celebrate and embrace your mother tongue. 

Totara House Tongan Group @ TLW Assembly 2025

Totara House had the privilege of performing at the Tongan Language Week Assembly. We had students across our Year 9, Year 10, Year 11, Year 12 and Year 13 Totara House mentor classes participate and represent our Totara House Tongan Group. We had 39 students in total who came together in Week 7 and put together a dance. We chose the Lakalaka as the item to perform at the Assembly. UNESCO states that the Lakalaka is "considered Tonga's national dance, Lakalaka is a blend of choreography, oratory, and vocal and instrumental polyphony." We performed that Lakalaka at the Tongan Language Week Inter House Competition in 2022 (where Totara House placed 1st) and we were excited to do it again for this year's celebrations. The Totara House Leaders choreographed the dance and taught it the students across two days. 

Totara House Tongan Group @ TLW Assembly 2025

Totara House Tongan Group 2025

It was a short turn around period to bring the students together and to get them to learn an item to perform, but as Totara House has shown throughout this year, they always come together and get it done. Kotahitanga is one of our values and I see this come alive when the students engage with the language week celebrations. I am really happy with how the students came together, performed and celebrated Tongan Language Week 2025. 

Totara House Tongan Group 2025

Language is a fundamental component of cultural identity. Language carries history, values, cultural traditions and ways of understanding the world from a unique lens. Without the language, the culture as a whole and the systems and layers within could possibly diminish. Language is the primary vehicle for the transferring of knowledge, of cultural history, lineage and values. Language cements identity. Embracing your mother tongue can embrace all other languages that you are exposed to. I appreciate the theme for this year's Tongan Language Week as it gave me much to think about and reflect on. 

Week 7 Term 3: English Department: Teacher Connections: The Importance of Collegiality (PLD) (August 25 - August 29)

Collegiality: Companionship and cooperation between colleagues who share responsibility.

Tamaki College English Department 2025

The English Department's led the Staff PLD session in Week 4 of Term 3. Our PLD session focused on the importance of collegiality and how teachers relate to each other. Building on previous sessions about teacher-student relationships, this session emphasizes teacher-to-teacher connections, especially as the year approaches its busy end. We were inspired by the English Language Department and the Social Science Department and their PLD sessions on the importance of Teacher and Student relationships. We took a different approach, where we wanted to focus on and highlight the importance of teacher to teacher relationships, collegiality. 

The aim of our PLD was to encourage self-reflection and prioritize colleagues, recognizing that strong teacher relationships are as vital as teacher-student relationships, and that connectedness among teachers can positively impact student achievement. The session involved checking in and reflecting on relationships within subject areas. We had two areas that we looked at specifically which were 'How relationships matter' and 'How to cultivate strong relationships.' Both sessions were led by Mr Jeremy Spruyt and Ms Anahina Latu. I led the opening remarks, ice breaker and closing reflection.  

As we approach the busy end of the year, navigating internal assessments and junior school tasks, it's crucial to pause and prioritize each other. While teacher-student relationships are undeniably important, I believe the collegiality and relationships among teachers are equally vital. In our people-focused profession, we can become so absorbed with student needs and data that we overlook our colleagues, forgetting that behind the data are the teachers driving learning and curriculum. We educators know that 'students are at the heart of the matter,' and so are we. Research indicates that a barrier to student achievement is a lack of belonging; similarly, if we as teachers feel connected and aligned in our relationships, it can profoundly impact our students.

Please find the link to our presentation below: 

Tamaki College English Department: The Importance of Collegiality PLD Slide deck

Week 6 Term 3: Totara House: Epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki 'Airani 2025 (August 11 - August 15)

Te reo Māori Kūki 'Airani 2025

In Week 4 of Term 3 we celebrated Cook Island Language Week. The 2025 theme for Cook Islands Māori Language Week is "Ātui'tui’ia au ki te raurau a tōku matakeinanga" which translates to 'Connect me to the offerings of my people'. This year our Cook Island staff and students organized the very first inter house competition which was the Ura Pau competition. Ura Pau is a traditional Cook Island dance and is characterized by the swaying of the hips and is styled by the Cook Island drums. This was the first time that there has been an Inter House Ura Pau Competition for Cook Island Language Week at our kura and it was really exciting to see staff and students get involved, participate and celebrate te reo Māori Kūki 'Airani. 

Totara House Cook Island Group 2025 - before the performance

Totara House Cook Island Group - after the competition

As with every House event, Totara House were ready and excited to get involved with the Ura Pau competition. We were given four days to pull together students from our house to learn and perform Ura Pau. As with Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa 2025, I pulled together a group of students from the house to form the Samoan Group to represent our House at the competition. I did the same thing for te reo Māori Kūki 'Airani 2025, even though the turn around period was really short I knew that we had to get a group together. Led by one of House prefects, Mamarei Henry-Ru and supported by our two House Captions (Tupou Peaua and Louvina Palei) the Totara House Cook Island Group was comprised of 13 students from across Year 10, Year 12 and Year 13. There were 9 female performers and 3 male performers. The students performed at the Inter House Ura Pau Competition and placed First Equal with Puriri House. I am really proud of the students who represented Totara House and the kotahitanga that they continue to show every time we come together for our whanau group. Kotahitanga being one of our House values for 2025. The House leaders who led this campaign did an exceptional job in ensuring that the students involved came together, worked together and engaged in the process together. 

Totara House Cook Island Group 2025

Totara House Cook Island Group 2025 

The theme for this year is "Ātui'tui’ia au ki te raurau a tōku matakeinanga" - Although I am not from the Cook Islands I understand the significance of connecting ourselves to the offerings of our people. As a Dean, I feel so connected and I am so grateful to the offerings that the young people in my House continue to share collectively. I am humbled by their willingness to share and serve for our House. I am excited to continue this journey is offering, sharing and serving our House as we journey into this last part of 2025.  

Week 5 Term 3: English Department: Junior and Senior English Program for Term 3 (August 11 - August 15)

In this post I am going to highlight and outline the program that the English Department is going to offer our Junior and Senior English students. 

JUNIOR ENGLISH PROGRAM TERM 3

This term in English, we will be focusing on both written and visual texts. Some of our Junior English classes will delve into novels, while others will explore film. Across these different areas, we will be covering common assessment tasks such as formal writing, creative writing, and speech. 

Fostering strong oral communication skills is paramount, and by focusing on speech as a key assessment, we aim to equip our students with the confidence and ability to articulate their ideas effectively. This emphasis will allow students to develop crucial public speaking techniques, enhance their critical thinking through clear and concise expression, and prepare them for future academic and professional environments where persuasive and coherent verbal delivery is essential.

SENIOR ENGLISH PROGRAM TERM 3

As Week 7 and the Derived Grade Exams approach, our primary focus will be on ensuring all students successfully complete their NCEA internal assessments. We will dedicate class time to finalizing these crucial pieces of work, providing targeted support and opportunities for revision. Simultaneously, we will begin our concentrated preparation for the Derived Grade Exams, equipping students with the necessary skills and knowledge to perform their best in these upcoming assessments.

Our current focus is on effectively introducing our NCEA Level 1 students to the new 91926 standard. We are guiding them through this unit by explicitly teaching various writing types, such as opinion columns, personal account writing, and descriptive writing, with a strong emphasis on student agency and independent text creation. Students will have dedicated time to plan and draft their work, and we will assess them on this new standard during Week 8 and Week 9, where they will independently craft a text based on provided prompts.

Week 4 Term 3: English Department: Goals for Term 3 (August 04 - August 08)

Term 3 is crucial for the English Department, with priorities set for junior and senior English students, curriculum development, and alignment with school goals. The department acknowledges that flexibility is needed as the term progresses, but they will strive to meet their Term 3 objectives. Below are some of the goals that we would like to work towards and focus on in Term 3. 

Students at risk of achieving: 

We want to work with our identified students who are at risk of achieving credits in English. We have identified who the students were for Term 1 and we revisit the list in Term 3. We know that this list would have significantly changed since we have spent time in Term 2 to complete internal assessments.

Designing a unit for NCEA Level 1 English Internal Assessment: 91926: 

As a Department, we are designing a unit for a new NCEA Level 1 English internal assessment (91926). We will be running this assessment in Term 3 starting from Week 2 - Week 9. It has been a good process so far, getting everyone on board with the assessment and deciding what we want to do and how we want to assess it. We are excited to have started this journey with our NCEA facilitator Mr Alex Moffat-Wood.

Finishing Internal Assessments and preparing for Derived Grade Assessment: 

We know that Term 3 is our last full term with our senior students. We are looking to use the time well to ensure that our senior students complete their internal assessments and that they are also prepared for their Derived Grade Exams which will take place in Week 7 Term 3.