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Filipino Day at BestStart Dixon Heights

At BestStart Dixon Heights, one of our centre priorities is "Culture and Identity". We have been looking at ways to strengthen this in the centre and we have decided to have Cultural Days once per month to will help enhance this in the centre.

This month, we have chosen Filipino Day. What a wonderful day we had. Whanau members brought in food to share, tamariki (children) dressed up, and as we have two kaiako (teachers) who are Filipino, the tamariki were lucky enough to learn some new games like “Piko”, and be able to learn a few words in Filipino. 

Providing days like this for our kaiako and tamariki gives acknowledgement that as dual learners they are reassured that they are part of a caring, supportive, and respectful community that values the diversities that we have in Aotearoa, which also gives our kaiako (teachers) and tamariki (children) a sense of belonging. 

Communicating with whanau (families) in and around their home language helps them form a connection with the centre. We are on an ongoing learning journey to enhance our culture and identity in the centre. This was a beautiful and wonderful way to be able to support this today.