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Engaging Pacific parents and communities

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We are preparing to close this site soon as this content has now moved to  Tāhūrangi.

Tāhūrangi is the new online curriculum hub for Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga | Ministry of Education.

Examples

Involvement and engagement
This clip, from the Connections and Conversations DVD, explores a variety of viewpoints from students, teachers, and parents on the involvement and engagement of Pacific parents and communities in the processes of schooling.

Parents matter
Many schools already involve Pacific parents in supporting cultural events and activities. Effective home-school partnerships need to have a clear focus on Pacific students’ learning, with everyone able to make a positive and active contribution. 

Sharing information
Partnerships that align school and home practices and that enable parents to actively support their children's learning have shown some of the strongest impacts on student outcomes.

Welcoming parents
Coming to school for special events is rewarding for Pacific parents if the school makes them feel welcome and the focus is on their children’s achievement and learning.

Learning conversations
Sustained higher achievement is possible when teachers use pedagogical approaches and share strategies that enable Pacific students to take charge of their own learning.

An open door policy that works
Chrissie Rumpler from Owairaka School discusses how to ensure an effective classroom open-door policy through making connections with the community and by having a school structure that values the engagement. She shares some of the steps her school has taken to ensure that teachers understand why and how to engage with the diverse cultures represented in their school.

Sylvia Park's parents' centre
Sylvia Park school has set up a centre within the school designated as "the parents’ place". The centre’s leader has a proactive focus on involving Pacific parents through mutual learning conversations based on their child’s assessment data and their next-steps learning needs.

Engaging Pasifika families – Owairaka School builds a fale
The staff at Owairaka School have explored ways to build deep connections and partnerships with the many cultural groups and families at their school. This story tells how the community worked together to bring an element of Samoan culture to the school in the construction of a traditional fale (house).

Community engagement – a parent's perspective
Saga Frost is a parent at Owairaka School in Auckland. She discusses what it is like to be a partner in the learning community at her school and reveals that she did not realise, until she got involved, how much she could impact on her child's learning. She challenges other parents to see themselves as someone who can add value, "You add value at home, you add value at your church, you can add value at your school as well."

Edtalks – Pasifika parent group
Manu Fa'aea-Semeatu discusses her school's website page for Pacific parents, ways of engaging Pacific fanau in the learning journey, and how to support across the school for Pacific student achievement.


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