Salutation:
Greetings your Eminence and fellow AFC Family! Trust this finds you well despite the ongoing threat from COVID-19.
Admin Briefs:
~ This is week 8 of Term 1.
~ Assessment 1: The staff and students are rounding up their revision today as they prepare for the Common Paper Assessment (CPA) next week.
~ Teachers' Trainees: Currently, there are 8 interns from Teachers Training College, and 2 from Tupou Tertiary Institute (TTI) doing their practicum here for 3 weeks. It's always encouraging to have these future teachers opting to conduct their training here at AFC.
Athletic Squad:
The majority of the Athletic Squad have now joined camp. The few who have yet to join are the jumpers and throwers, and they'll come in this weekend. Photo 001 was captured after their morning training session. It's a long standing tradition for Catholic students to display devotion to the Blessed Mother and other saints. Our athletes do that each time they finish their training either in the morning or in the evening.
Photo 001
Photo 003 showed the Alumni Group 1998 catered for the Squad after training last Saturday. They also brought fruits and light refreshments on Thursday. It's indeed heartening to see the support of ex-students to our athletes.
Photo 003
On that note, if any Alumni Group wishes to contribute to the feeding of the Squad, please don't hesitate to contact our Sports Master, Taholo Anitoni, or to myself!
QSC 95th Anniversary:
Last Saturday Queen Salote College celebrated their 95th Anniversary. As a token of support, our Deputy Principal and Discipline Mistress, Paea Laukau went with a handful of Prefects to their celebration. I was told that AFC was the sole school outside the Methodist system that attended the momentous occasion. Even though our money donation was relatively small, our grand appearance made all the difference!
Photos 010 & 025 showed the Tutor and students from QSC delivered 'Umu' (food) and also the top of part of the cake! I was informed that the royal Princess, Salote Pilolevu Tuita, the Chief Guest of the day, sent the cake to us! We felt humbled indeed by this noble gesture of respect.
Photo 010
Photo 025
Priests' Gathering:
I had the privilege of joining my fellow Priests at the Basilica for the annual Clergy Meeting (photo 011). In fact, I deliberately wanted to be there for the forum on Education! I was glad that the Chairman allowed me to address the forum. My brief sharing was focused on the pivotal roles of Parish Priests in our education system.
Photo 011
I pleaded with them to be more proactive and even robust in their campaign within their respective Parishes, to send Catholic students to our Catholic schools on Tongatapu and in the outer islands. Of course, parents and guardians may have their reasons but the truth is bright and smart students can still achieve their full potential at our own schools. Our teachers, unlike some years ago, are as good as their counterparts in government schools, and even better!
Enrichment Team:
It was with great joy that I witnessed our Enrichment Team engaged in their first few classes. I may have mentioned in my previous updates that one of the strategies to bridge the learning standard of junior students is to establish such a team.
The focus is on students in Levels 1 & 2 who have problems with readings (Literacy) and basic Maths (Numeracy). Ms. Singa Kaifoto & Viliami Afeaki are the pioneers to pilot this initiative. These students start an hour early before actual school starts, and during lunch times. I can tell from the students' faces that they were equally excited about the program!
Road Upgrades:
There's a new twist to our campaign to upgrade our roads. The Hon. Minister Tatafu Moeaki is part of our Negotiation team for this project. I'm delighted that our very own Minister is involved and he has assured us that we'll work together to get this project off the ground. The work is planned to be done during the one-week break (5 - 10 Apr).
Conclusion:
On behalf of us all here at Apifo'ou, may I wish you all a blessed St. Joseph's Feast Day!
Viva AFC!
Ekuasi
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