From the 29th of May to the 4th of June we celebrated Gagana Samoa/Samoan Language Week. Students around the school all came together to support our Samoan community and lots of activities were available for everyone to get involved in. Kaiawhina of all levels were given a couple of daily simple Samoan phrases to show their students and anything Samoan was encouraged through out the week! Staff also banded together and were given a bit of a context surrounding Samoa and everyday a notable Samoan figure was mentioned and given a space to be recognised for their achievements.
On Friday we celebrated Gagana Samoa more by having a cultural attire day. Many students wore their Island dress and others wearing the Samoan Flag! During lunch the Samoan Cultural Group performed two traditional dances: the Siva being a solo female dance that is slow, fluid and graceful in story telling. There was also a group Siva to a the well known song ‘Afio Ane Loa’ performed by the girls in their puletasi (outfit). The last dance encouraged the school to get on stage and have a boogie – the crowd got up and some were as keen as to go on stage and share the limelight! https://youtu.be/cXsrFiPombQ
Big shoutout goes to the Pasifika council for all their work they put into this day – many more Pacific language weeks to come!
