Mua i Malae
E fa'atalofa atu i lo outou paia ma lo outou mamalu. Mālō le soifua. O le iunite lenei a Mua i Malae. 
​O nisi nei o vaega ma galuega o lo'o a'oa'oina ai le fanau mo lo outou silafia. Fa'afetai. 
Talofa and welcome to our Samoan Bilingual Unit here at Richmond Road School.​ 

Education Gazette Article

                                              The Education Gazette article about our school, in particular Mua i Malae. 
​Check it out... https://gazette.education.govt.nz/articles/deeper-learning-for-tamaiti-through-siva-samoa/

Samoan Bilingual Unit
We have limited enrolments for 2025. We welcome visits on our school tours

Enrolment Scheme Information 2025
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Heritage Language Enrolment Form.pdf
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Moana Vaiomanu - (Rōpū Leader- Years 4-6)    
Rita Ah Chong and Latisha Sionepulu - (Years 3-4)   
Selepa Ioane - (Years 1-2)  
Lilli Tali - (New Entrant to Year 1)
Laepa Sililoto - Malele - (Malele - Thursdays 0.2)

Loretta Isaia - Learning Assistant in-class support
Eleele Afoa - Learning Assistant in-class support    
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Autū - Our Goal
O le sini autu ia mafai e tamaiti o lo'o a'oa'oina i Mua i Malae ona lelei le fa'alogo, tautala, faitau ma tusitusi i le gagana Samoa ma le gagana fa'a-peretania.
The goal of Mua i Malae is to enable our learners to become competent in listening, speaking, reading and writing in the Samoan and English languages. Parents play a role in achieving this goal as the home and school must be committed to the use of the Samoan language if our tamaiti are to become bilingual and bi-literate.

Our Location
Richmond Road School is in a central location, just off Ponsonby Road in Auckland City. We are located at 113 Richmond Road and also have the A'oga Fa'asamoa onsite.

Outside the Classroom

Mua i Malae will go on trips throughout the year.
In addition to participating in Samoan events, our tamaiti mix with Te Whanau Whariki, French and Kiwi Connections rōpū in wider school activities such as jump jam, sports, music, our school production, Ritimana Matariki events and celebrations of other heritage languages.

Aiga Involvement

You as a parent can get involved by

• Coming along to fono and family evenings and events
• Going on school trips
• Speaking Samoan with your tamaiti
• Attending parent teacher child conferences
• Helping in the classroom as needed
• Contributing to fundraising with ideas, time or resources via the Richmond Road PTA.

​Mua i Malae Interview Criteria

mim_interview_criteria_and_pledge__2_.pdf

Language Statement

The intent of the Mua i  Malae Samoan Bilingual Unit is to develop the proficiency of both English and Samoan and to produce bilingual and bi-literate students. We have four classes in 2025, where the Samoan language is used and then gradually English is added more regularly during instruction. This model, although common, has its limitations when some of our tamaiti at RRS often come into this unit with very little Samoan. Bilingual units are premised on a strong heritage language used to acquire the second language.

We follow these guidelines for our three classes but still take into account the proficiency of the student in Samoan/English when they enrol in the unit.
Years 0-2: Samoan immersion class where Samoan is used for instruction and content
Years 3-4: Transitional where the majority is in Samoan and English is also used
Years 4-6: A combination of Samoan and English for instruction and content
Note: The New Zealand Curriculum is the content of teaching and learning in Mua i Malae. The Samoan and English languages are the vehicle for this content to be learnt. 

Communication Between School and Home

There are regular Richmond Road School newsletters which have important dates and interesting stories about what our tamaiti have been doing. Other notices will be sent home via text or email. And please look out for notices on our website. 

Mua i Malae Events

During the year our students celebrate their language and culture during Samoan Language Week and other events that promote the Samoan culture and language. Most of these events are organised by the teachers and students  and students' families. We also have a family picnic, whānau open morning and fono that can be organised by the school and parents.

Home Learning 

Literacies
* https://literacyonline.tki.org.nz/Literacy-Online/Planning-for-my-students-needs/Pasifika-dual-language-       books/Gagana-Samoa 
* https://www.uniteforliteracy.com/
* https://www.tepapa.govt.nz/learn/for-educators/free-downloadable-activity-books
* http://www.digitaldialects.com/Samoan.htm  
* http://mylanguages.org/samoan_games.php 
 * http://ilanguages.org/samoan.php
 * http://www.thecoconet.tv/language-learning-game