The launching of the Learning Communities Hub was held at Hagley College Cafeteria on Friday 24th July.
It will be a continuous 10 week pilot programme funded by the Ministry of Education (MOE) with the intention to connect and engage with the ethnically diverse Muslim community in Christchurch. The Hub is organised and run by the Nawawi center’s Nūrāniyyah Academy in collaboration with the MOE. More than 30 families attended the launching of the LC Hub. Children aged from 4 years up to high school age were in classrooms, facilitated by Muslim NZ trained teachers. Part of the learning included their identity, values and Arabic language.
Suhaylah Richards and Ben Gresham, both staff from Hagley College are part of the team that are facilitating and supporting the Learning Communities Hub programme. Included in the education team are NZ trained teachers Zahra Ditta, Sana Ditta, Alisha Siddique and Jumayah Jones. The Arabic language team is led by Dalia Mohamed, Freal Said, Taghrid Alakhras and Naila Hasi from the Nūrāniyyah Academy.
Workshops will include topics on: understanding how the NZ curriculum works; Teaching and Learning in NZ schools; Keeping our identity; language and culture/faith in NZ education context; Understanding pathways and NCEA; and Family routines and goal setting. The LC Hub acknowledges their gratitude to Hagley College for the use of the venue and wishes to thank them for their continuous support for the diverse minority communities /groups in Christchurch.
Jumayah Jones is the Overall Programme Coordinator for the Learning Communities Hub.
The Ministry of Education is running several learning communities’ hubs with different ethnic groups in Christchurch as part of a pilot programme in 2020.
For more information about this pilot programme contact: Mastura Abd Rahman.
