O MĀTOU
Samoa Aoga Amata I Incorporated (trading as SAASIA) has been in establishment for 30 years. The organisation membership is comprised of early childhood centres nationally, representing Auckland, Napier, Palmerston North, Wellington and Christchurch.
SAASIA is governed by a Board of 11 members, representative of the regions, with the support of honorary members Fa’atama and Fa’atina. Board members bring a strong mix of expertise in all areas of education, research, Samoan culture and language, government sector and community experience.
The work of SAASIA is underpinned by Christian principles and organisational values. SAASIA’s main objectives fall under four categories:
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Language, Culture and Christianity: To develop a formal organisation founded on Samoan cultural perspectives, pedagogies and philosophy. To promote spiritual, social, mental and physical well-being of the aiga, families and the community. To develop a language policy to support Aoga Amata (Early Childhood Centre).
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ECE Curriculum: To support the ongoing training and professional development of Samoan teachers in early childhood education. To promote the use of the Taiala o le Gagana Samoa (Samoan in the New Zealand Curriculum) as a basis for the teaching of the Samoan language to the children. To promote the use of the National Curriculum Guidelines, including Te Whāriki and the MOE Quality in Action documents, in all Samoan early childhood education centres. To promote and support the development of the Samoan versions of all curriculum documents for Early Childhood education. To initiate and support early childhood programmes for Samoan children.
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Resources: To support translation of documents and resources in Gagana Samoa for children’s teaching and learning. To promote the development of equipment and teaching resources useful in teaching of the Samoan language.
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Research: To promote research on and access of this information for the development of early childhood education and the teaching of Samoan language.
Meet our team
