Principal's Page

Tālofa lava! Afio mai!

Next week is Samoa Language week. We have  35 children with both parents being Samoan, and many more with a Samoan identity. Our Pasifika communities are a very important, respected and valued component of our WHS whānau. 

The Ministry organises Samoa Language Week / Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa for Pacific Peoples to maintain and promote the language and culture of Samoa. Gagana Samoa is the second most spoken language in cities like Auckland and Porirua, and the third most spoken language across New Zealand.

Samoa Language Week celebrates the identity, language, and culture of students from Samoa and students whose families are from Samoa; supporting this group of learners to engage and achieve success.  

This special week helps all New Zealanders journey towards shared cultural understandings. 

Samoa Language Week / Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa is being held from Sunday 29 May to Saturday 4 June 2022. The overarching theme for the 2022 Pacific Language Weeks is sustainability.

Due to the current COVID-19 situation, Pacific Language Weeks will be celebrated online in 2022.

There is more on this special week in this week's newsletter.

On a personal note:

I love west Auckland, as I have probably said many times. Having lived all over New Zealand, this is the place I love to live in the most. The multicultural mix we have out west, the genuineness of the people, the diversity in our community, the opportunities and facilities we have available, and the beauty of our west coast beaches and Waitakere Ranges make this place an incredibly special and awesome place to live.

It is a joy to celebrate all the many wonderful cultures that make up our WHS whānau, and a challenge we are taking up going forward is to find better ways to acknowledge and incorporate these rich cultures into our WHS school culture.

In the meantime, if you have any suggestions for ways we can achieve this, please do let me know - in person, by text to 021779009 or by email to macash@mac.com

My very best regards to you all as always,

Ash Maindonald

Principal.