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Celebrating Tongan Language Week at BestStart Tōtara Park
The children were very excited about celebrating Tongan language week at BestStart Tōtara Park. We have been exploring the Tongan language through music and movement. We found that exploring the Tongan language through songs was an effective teaching and learning strategy due to their repetitive nature. We learnt ‘Malo e lelei’ and the ‘Tongan alphabet’.
Celebrating Tongan language week and having the support of our Tongan families is extremely important to us as we celebrate the diversity in our community. Our Tongan tamariki are very proud of their heritage and embraced their culture throughout the week. We were provided with posters, Tongan flags and an insight into the Tongan traditions.
We learnt a Tongan haka and explored some authentic food. It has been a great
experience learning about the Tongan culture and a special thanks goes to the
Sekona and Whānau for supporting us.