Learning to 'walk in both worlds'

Oamaru schools are embracing new growth and  changes to their cultural make-up. Shannon Gillies reports.

Schools can be the first institutions to start making changes to incorporate a minority into a society in a way that helps that group flourish.

This seems to be the case in Oamaru, where an influx of Tongan families has seen schools become increasingly multicultural, requiring new ways of learning and teaching  to help all pupils participate and achieve.

This re-think is benefiting everyone in the school community, local principals say.

North Otago Principals’ Association president Peter Roundhill, of Oamaru North School, says Pasifika pupils started entering schools in North Otago  in significant numbers about 2008, but have been arriving regularly over the past decade.

The  influx has seen considerable changes in Oamaru’s secondary and primary schools as they move to adapt to and incorporate  pupils into school communities, inside and outside classrooms and on the  school grounds.

Most Oamaru schools have a significant Tongan pupil count — 4% of St Kevin’s College’s roll identify as Tongan, 8% of  Waitaki Boys’ High School’s, and 12% of Fenwick School’s, for example.

Waitaki Boys’ High School this term started offering Tongan as an option and has installed a Pasifika Dean, as has Waitaki Girls’.

Most schools have introduced educational and cultural programmes and events  as they become increasingly multicultural.Mr Roundhill says more diversity is benefiting the whole school community.

"Students are learning to get on with each other and to be respectful and understanding that we all have different ways of being in our community."

Schools do not view pupils as separate ethnicities, taking each simply as a pupil of their school, he says.

"When any group of students come into our schools we are always looking out for the best for them."

Pasifika families, too, were supportive of the schools.

"There’s an expectation that their children will do well in our schools and that education is held in high esteem."

The 480-pupil Waitaki Boys’ High School this term started offering Tongan as a subject.

The course focuses on writing, speech and culture.

Rector Clive Rennie says the school started it in response to the growing number of Pasifika pupils and the drive of two Tongan teachers.

He was proud of the work his staff had done.

"I believed . . . we should be teaching Tongan as a subject just as I believe we should teach Maori. It gives the students a positive feeling about themselves and their culture."

The school introduced a homework club for Pasifika pupils two years ago, created by Aisea Fifita, who was appointed to the newly-created position of  dean for Pasifika pupils  at the start of this year.

Mr Fifita, also the head of mathematics, said  a need was identified and he wanted to meet it.

"I have a passion for the Pasifika students with their academic skills and that’s one of the things we discuss with this group."

Down the road at Waitaki Girls’ High School, principal Tracy Walker says her school has become more vibrant and culturally aware with the arrival of more Tongan pupils.

They are high achievers academically.

Many of the school’s senior Tongan pupils have become leaders at school, as well as in the wider Oamaru community.

Last year’s head girl, Naomi Saulala, who is now studying law and Pacific studies at Otago University, is Tongan.

It is not without its challenges — some pupils speak little English and need extra academic assistance — but Ms Walker says it is a privilege to be able to learn from each other’s cultures and lovely to hear the Tongan language spoken on the school’s campus.

"Our students really can ‘walk in both worlds’ and I think that has a tremendous benefit to both them and us."

St Kevin’s College is working together with  other Oamaru schools to keep a programme called  Pasifika Success Talanoa  going.

The programme, which used to be funded by the Ministry of Education, aims to raise the achievement of Pasifika pupils, upskill school leaders and staff and reach out to the community.

The school’s Tongan pupils are valued members of its community, have generally been high achievers in academic, sporting and cultural pursuits, and they wish to continue that tradition, says principal Paul Olsen.

Last year Fenwick School principal Lloyd Bokser took a term off to look at how the small Oamaru school, which had 36 Pasifika pupils enrolled last year, could build on what was being done with the Success Talanoa programme.

In his report on his sabbatical, he notes that to help pupils and their families, the school has a Tongan teacher aide and a teacher with a strong background in Pasifika teaching.

It regularly supports and hosts cultural celebrations, acitivities and events that draw in the school and the wider community.

A greater understanding at Pasifika education has been a rewarding and profitable experience and one the school is wholly committed to, he says.

For Mr Roundhill it is a time of great opportunity for Oamaru’s education system and community.

"We live in a changing world and this is one change for us at the moment, but there will be other changes coming as the world becomes smaller and people start to move a lot more," he said.

"We look at it as an opportunity for our future."

shannon.gillies@odt.co.nz