Sandra’s T2 Far North and Northland Trip
During June, Sandra our Upper North Island Delivery Lead headed out on the road for a trip up north. Read on below to hear from Sandra all about her trip.
It was fantastic to get away for my first lot of travel since I started with SADD/Kaitiaki o Ara. I haven’t been north of Auckland except for Matakana, for around 17 years. It was great to see these parts of the country again, and there sure are some beautiful spots :-)
The purpose of the trip was to run some introduction workshops with students, due to covid some school’s SADD groups had dropped off and we needed to re-start. I live in the Counties Manukau region and what I have learnt after a long weekend, is to not leave later than 6am or you will be stuck trying to get out of Auckland for more than 2 hours :-)
First stop was to visit Taipa Area School in the Far North
Here I met the Guidance Counsellor, and Taipa is where I began to learn what sorts of driving behaviour exist in the Far North. From drink driving, to under age drivers, licence breaches, and speed. It sure does prove the need for SADD groups in these areas! I stayed with friends in Mangonui the first night and they told me they don’t go out in the evenings, as it is too risky.
The next day I was off to Kaitaia. We had students from Kaitaia College come to a workshop, hosted by the lovely crew at Far North REAP, who also opened the session for us (thank you!). We had some good engagement and the hope is for SADD to re-invigorate here in Kaitaia. Local School Community Officer Constable Mandy Hudson came to assist and share her experience with the students too. There has been a recent fatality within the school community which is being felt by the locals.
After the workshop I had a meeting with Kaitaia Police about how we can work together. Very pro! It was awesome to be in Kaitaia where our name, Kaitiaki o Ara was blessed back in February this year.
Next stop Kerikeri:
Kerikeri didn’t fail to disappoint, we had a good turnout of students from Kerikeri High School and Springbank School at the workshop. We were hosted by Te Pūtahitanga Innovation Hub (Te Runanga o Whaingaroa), and Far North REAP kindly opened the session for us. Some staff from the local Road Policing team and other staff attended as well, to show the students the Police cars and to offer support and local knowledge. There were a lot of questions, so it was great to be able to collaborate with them.
From here I had a meeting with the Road Policing manager for Northland, along with the Road Policing Senior Sgt for the region. We discussed trends, police resources, and how to work together with our SADD groups. They, along with Kaitaia are also very pro and keen to support our kaupapa.
Final stop was Whangarei:
Here we had two workshops the day after each other. Huanui College was first up, assisted by their local School Community Officer (SCO). Huanui is lucky enough to have free time every Thursday for two hours where they get to experience different activities, so this is an ideal time for their SADD/Kaitiaki o Ara group to run events.
Huanui College has just recently established a SADD group and this was a chance for the students to learn more, then go ahead and plan events in their school. It was great to get their ideas on local issues and having their SCO there really helped. He also assisted with their tyre changing competition!
The second workshop was at Tikipunga High School. Here we were assisted by Whangarei Road policing staff, and Northland Road Safety Coordinator, Ash Johnston. The teacher in charge used to be in SADD when she was at high school, so she also came in handy with advice. The students were really engaged and came up with great conversations.
After Tikipunga High School, I visited Whangarei Police station, and I met with the Road Policing Senior Sgt. We discussed road safety issues in his region and they, like the other areas, are very positive and happy to support us.
This concluded my trip to the Far North / Northland, and then it was home sweet home through that lovely Auckland traffic. I had a great time away and am looking forward to connecting with more schools on my next trip. A big thank you to everyone who contributed, and of course to our amazing rangatahi who put the biggest effort in. I can’t wait to work with you all again soon! :-)