Hello 2025!
Kia ora e te whānau! Welcome back to the Kaitiaki o Ara/SADD blog for 2025. We’ve had a fantastic summer and are gearing up for another incredible year of empowering young leaders, imparting vital road safety education and supporting hundreds of young people across Aotearoa to fulfill their potential through new skills, learning, activities and epic events!
In this blog we are going to share some of the awesome events we have on the cards this year and provide you with a bit of inspo to get up and going for 2025!
First things first, what can you do to get things up and running in your school this term?
Get in touch with us! Whether you are a returning SADD leader for your school, you are taking over from someone else or you are completely new to the crew, we would love to hear from you! Flick your Programme Delivery Lead a quick email to let them know who you are, and if you have a teacher/support person at school it would be great if you could include their name and email address too, just so we can make sure our records are up to date.
Start getting a group together at school. We know from years of experience in this game that there is power in teamwork. Pop a poster up advertising the opportunity at school, shoulder tap a few friends and see if you can get a message into the school notices to advertise the opportunity to join a SADD committee. If you want some incentives to help people understand what’s in it for them - check out our pathways and opportunities info, this highlights the key skills and experiences that can be gained by being involved.
Check out the website! We have loads of resources and inspiration there ready to go and we are adding more every week. Some great starting points for Term 1 are:
Workshops info - we are updating this page frequently as we confirm our events bookings. You can also register your interest for a workshop on this page so that we know you are keen for us to come to your town!
Our Programme Aspirations - this is the framework for our programme and helps build the context of what sort of road safety issues you can address with your activities this year. Check it out and start thinking about what you see in your community and what issues you would like to focus on this year.
Get free stuff - a great way to start spreading the word at your school is by getting the SADD name and message out there! We have a range of free posters and stickers that you can order.
Key opportunities that you don’t want to miss this Term:
Term 1 Workshops - The best way to learn about all the opportunities on offer with SADD. Learn how to be involved in the programme, have a go at some activities, meet some new people, eat some snacks and hear about what you can gain from SADD this year. Workshops are great for students who are new to SADD as well as those who have been involved before - we make sure it suits you all. Check out www.sadd.org.nz/workshops for more details.
Conference - Think SADD camp vibes, 3 days of fun, skills development, team building, challenges, great kai, learning and leadership. Attending conference is THE BEST way to spend a few days in the April school holidays. We have 2 events this year - Christchurch and Cambridge. It’s going to be epic and you don’t want to miss out. All the key info is here and registrations are open now!
It’s our birthday! This year we turn FORTY! The big 4-0. We are going to be celebrating this awesome milestone all year with a range of different initiatives designed to celebrate the legacy of SADD leaders past and acknowledge the ever-important mission that we are determined to continue. There’s no better time to get involved and be a part of the movement! Watch this space for the celebrations to come!
So let’s get going! Bring on another EPIC year of looking out for our mates and spreading the word on safety!