Ashburton Courier: September 16, 2021

Ashburton College
Individual Excellence in aSupportive Learning Environment
News
Issue 30
16 September 2021
Events
Tongan Language Week
With someofthe information belowprovidedbyShrina Afu,
Head of the Student Cultural Committee
Theme
This year’s national theme for Uike Kātoanga’i ‘oelea faka-Tonga/
Tonga Language Week was Fakakoloa 'o Aotearoa 'aki 'a e Ako
Lelei, which means enriching Aotearoa with holistic education.
The theme served asaconversation starter onthe importance of
holistic education, diverse forms
of learning and howAotearoacan
benefit from it.
Due tothe COVID-19 Alert Levels
across Aotearoa, Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o
elea faka-Tonga, Tongan Language
Week was celebrated online
nationally.
College Programme
Following the national lead,
Tongan Language Week was
celebrated online at College
through the AshColl Student
Executive Instagram page and
Facebook, with videos uploaded
daily to showcase the Tongan
Culture.
Monday06September
Shrina Afu with the help of her family put together avideo, teaching the
phrase‘FefeHake?’ meaning ‘Howare you?’
The second video was of her family and extended family singing asong
together before family prayers, avery common way toend the day ina
Tongan household.
Tuesday07September
Isileli Ula put together a videofor thephrase of the day whichwas‘Koeha
me’a oku kefai?’meaning “Whatare youdoing?”.
Following this video we had ashort clip showing how to make Otai, a
popular Tropical Tongandrink.
Otai is afruit drink which originated inTonga and isusually made as a
summer time refreshment. It is ablend of water, coconut milk, and any
variety ofpulped tropical fruit such as coconut, watermelon, mango, or
pineapple. Although, it is almost always watermelon asitisplentiful in
Tonga.
Wednesday08September
Mahina Pongia, with the helpofher littlesister, made avideo and taught
the word ‘Kataki’ meaning ‘Please’.
With this post avideo of Traditional Tongan Attire and the name for each
wasalso attached.
Thursday09September
Pasi Hala put together avideofor the phrase of the day which was‘A’ikeke
a’lu ki fe?’ meaning ‘Whereare yougoing’.
A Tongan tiktok Tau’olunga dance clip by Shrina Afu, Sera Ula and
MiaManoa followedPasi’s video.
Friday10September
Shrina Afu, Mahina Pongia, Isileli Ula, Pasi Hala, Penina Vaaelua and
Cecillia Vaaelua recorded asinging video altogether at school,for the last
post forthe week.
Tongan students were also encouraged to wear their Tongan attire, and
the Tonganflag wasraised at school.
In Tonganattirewehave (pictured above,back row, lefttoright):
Shrina Afu, IsileliUla, Pasi Hala, Mahina Pongia.
(Front row,lefttoright): MiaManoa, MariaHala, Sera Ula.
(Pictured above): Thesame group,displaying theTongan flag.
(Pictured above and below): Also in Tongan dress.
(Above,leftand right): MariaHala and Makeleta Ula.
(Right):
Suliasi Hala’ufia.
Acknowledgement
College acknowledges the planning, time,and effortgiven by the students
and Ange Mitchell Assistant Principal, to celebrating Tongan Language
Week, during aweek where wewere mainly off-site. It was positive tobe
able to celebrate Thursday’s and Friday’seventson-site.
Congratulations
Semi-Finalists in Spelling BeeAotearoa
NewZealand
Spelling Bee Aotearoa New Zealand runs a national Spelling Bee for
Year 9and 10 students who love language and achallenge.
As part ofthis, students learn new words and have some fun testing their
orthography(the conventional spelling system of alanguage) skills against
their school friends and other like-minded students around the country.
HowDoesthe National SpellingBee Work?
Students learn the 2021 Spelling Bee Aotearoa New Zealand Wordlist of
100 words. After this they undertake the 2021 Spelling Bee Aotearoa New
Zealand Test, which is awritten test of 50 words from the Wordlist and
50 wordsthe students haven’tbeen giventolearn.
This is able to be administered through their school or virtually through
Education Perfect’s online testing platform. Ashburton College’s students
undertook their test online at College.
280 Semi-Finalists Nationally
Results were then forwarded to the Spelling Bee Programme Director to
determine the 280 semi-finalists from around New Zealand. These students
arethen invited to competeatone of six Regional Spelling Bees around New
Zealand.
AshburtonCollege ThreeStudents AchievedSemi-Final Status
By reading the criteria
it can be seen that
three of College’s Year 9
students (pictured right,
leftand right)
BenCiron,
Lachlan Storey and
PhoebeMcKenzie
achieved highly to
reach this level of
success.
We acknowledge English teacher Rebecca Jeffery-Jones’support ofthese
students’preparation.
Semi-Finals
Abby Calder, Lachlan Storey’s mother, assisted on Tuesday 10August 2021
with transporttoand from Christchurch, and provided us with information
to use in this article.
As outlinedabove, thestudents gained their placeinthe semi-finals due to
achieving topYear 9280 spellers status in New Zealand this year.
The event was held at the Christchurch Art Gallery and was one of only two
semi-finals held for the South Island regions. The remaining four were North
Island-based.
Everyone had been briefed on the format forthe competition, in thatthere
would be written rounds and oral rounds. However,the organisers advised
that they had decided to eliminate the written round on this occasion and
would only hold the oral round, due to the smaller number of competitors
in this particular semi-final.
Abby said that Ben, Phoebe and Lachlan handled this sudden change well
and found out, onsigning in, that they had been placed in positions 1, 2
and 3for the order of spellers foreach round. Being the first three spellers
up to the microphone was daunting for them all, however they remained
composedand each spelt their wordscorrectly formanyrounds.
(Pictured right, front row,
lefttoright): BenCiron,
Lachlan Storeyand
Phoebe McKenzie;
the three College
Spellers,wearing
their competing order
numbers.
Slowly but surely
competitorswere
eliminatedatvarying
stages,fromthe thirty
four competitors who startedthe evening.
Final Twelve
Benand Phoebe were eliminatedprior to Lachlan, who remained until the
final twelve contestants, which was avery good outcome. Lachlan was
‘knocked out’byaword hehadn’t heard ofand getting acouple ofletters
in the wrong order.
(Pictured right): Lachlan showing the certificate
received by all semi-finalists.
By this stage thereweremostly girlsremaining
in the competition, with the ultimate winners
all being girls-twofromBurnsideHigh School
andone from MiddletonGrange School.
Ben, Lachlan, and Phoebe thoroughly enjoyed
competing and, asAbby said, did very well to
be up against some top spellers. The event
wasexciting forthe spectators too, with plenty
of parents and teachers supporting.
Congratulations went to this year’s students
and every good wish to those eligible to
compete in 2022.
Finals
The Final is to be held in Wellington on 05-06 November, between
eighteen finalists. Competing in this televised competition is aworthwhile
experience, with the winner gaining the Spelling BeeTrophyand $5000.