This article explores Samoan/English bilingual and bilteracy development in a group of children from Samoan and Tongan families over the transition to mainstream English-medium schools in New Zealand. After attending full immersion programmes in either Samoan or Tongan in Early Childhood Education Centres, development in a home language and in English-as-a-second language was foreseen over the six months prior to attending primary school and over the first year spent at an English-medium school in a special programme, known for its effective teaching of early English reading and writing.