Transcript
The decile four school of nearly 3000 students boasts record NCEA results across the nation, its students have placed first in the World Cambridge International Exams over the last five years and claimed six of the top-ten placings at the World Microsoft Championships. It also entered the highest number of cultural groups in this year's ASB Secondary School's Polynesian Festival. Korean student Ju-an Kim and Chinese student Venessa Ho both share their experiences of the festival.
"I think like, seeing all the cultural groups in the school, like the Samoan group, yeah I think that really helps us learn about that culture and I think it's good for us."
"I've been doing Polyfest for like the past two years and I think it's really cool when you go on the Polyfest day and you go see all the cultures perform. And it's just really nice to celebrate the diversity."
Principal Brent Lewis says embracing students' culture has been key.
"It's our belief that if we honour the youngsters' culture and background, they in turn having been respected and supported and embraced, will in turn embrace the important things that we're passionate about for them."
Samoan Headboy Ezra Kapeteni agrees and explains how school sports have also opened opportunities for Pasifika students to share and embrace their culture.
"For our First XV Rugby team we have a middle Eastern kid that just came over. So he decided to join our rugby team, most of our boys are Pacific Islanders so after every game, or during trainings, we are usually singing some Samoan songs so I think it was new for him to meet a new culture."
The School has been praised by the Ministry of Education on its strategic approach to promoting success for Maori and Pacific students which has resulted in boosted achievement rates. Mr Lewis says a unique programme called 'The Student Voice Project', where parents and leaders from around the Maori and Pasifika community are invited to engage and hear from students, is just one of the tools the school has used to do that.
"One of the interesting pieces of feedback we got from the Pasifika students and their staff training session was, 'you've got three lessons to establish a relationship with me,' now that was a challenging statement, but it's been taken to heart."
While Maori and Pacific students' achievement rates have increased, so have rates for Middle Eastern, Latin American and African students. The school has one of the highest percentages of migrant and international students and Mr Lewis says the diversity has been valuable in pulling down racial barriers and stigmas between students.
"It's very difficult to create those intercultural tensions, and if you look around our school you'll see a Muslim girl with a Pasifika girl with a European girl with an Asian girl and they'll be chattering away very happily. And they're just young women, and that's it."
Principal Brent Edwards says the strength of the school has been built on the back of its growing ethnic diversity.
