OCTOBER EDITION

As exams approach and the school year begins to wind down, it’s the perfect time to look back and reflect on everything your SADD group has achieved in 2025. From leading kōrero about risky driving, running activities, to creating safer choices for your peers, your mahi has made a real impact in your school and community.

For many of you, this might be your last term leading SADD, and we want to thank you for your energy, creativity, and leadership. This is also a great moment to think about what comes next — how your group can wrap up the year strong and “pass the torch” to ensure SADD continues to thrive in 2026, helping next years leaders pick up where you've left off. Take time to celebrate your highlights, share what you’ve learned, and encourage the next group of leaders to carry on your legacy of making safe choices the norm.

In this edition of our newsletter we feature some recent student activity, share our latest surveys for students and teachers (including an opportunity to win $100 prezzy cards!), launch our summer campaign and introduce you to our new curriculum linked road safety course. Check it all out below!

Good luck with exams and thank you for the passion, leadership, and positivity you’ve brought to SADD this year. You’ve helped make roads safer for everyone — and that’s something to be proud of.

Monthly Theme: Sharing our roads - it's everyone's responsibility

With the warmer weather bringing more cyclists, pedestrians, and scooters onto our streets, it’s a good time to brush up on safe road-sharing habits. Whether you’re driving, walking, or riding, staying alert helps protect everyone. Remember to check your blind spots for cyclists before turning or opening your door, slow down around schools and crossings, and give plenty of space when passing. If you’re walking or biking, stay visible and predictable — make eye contact and signal your moves. A little extra care and attention from all of us helps make the roads safer for everyone this season. Together, we can make every journey a safe one — no matter how we travel.

Delivery Team Spotlight!

An epic term 4 for SADD groups across Aotearoa!

Christchurch SADD groups have wrapped up a massive Term 4 with road safety expos, pledge cars, and heaps of creative activities — and that’s just the beginning! There’s been plenty happening across the motu too, from Dannevirke to Napier and Nelson.
Check out the full blog to see how students have been raising awareness and building momentum for 2026!

Summer Campaign

Summer’s nearly here and the roads are buzzing with energy. Whether you’re heading off on a road trip, meeting mates at the beach, or just cruising through the long, warm evenings — we want every journey to carry good vibes and safe choices.

It’s a great time to get behind SADD’s annual summer campaign! We’re inviting students and partners to help drive the message by sharing their top tips for safe driving, smart travel, and looking out for each other on the road. We’ll be posting simple, eye-catching visuals and video messages on social media throughout the season to keep the good times rolling - without compromising on safety.

Want to get involved? Visit our Summer Campaign webpage to grab ready-to-use resources plus all the helpful tips for how you can contribute to the campaign and start spreading the vibe.

Let’s make this summer all about great memories, safe rides and the positive energy we share. Vibe your ride — and make it count!

NCEA credits for road safety!

Across Aotearoa, young people are stepping up to lead conversations about safer driving and making powerful contributions to community wellbeing—while earning credits towards their NCEA. SADD’s Unite programme is one such initiative that blends personal development, civic engagement, and formal assessment.

Unite is an exciting, teacher-facilitated, youth-centric programme launching in 2026 that puts students in the driver’s seat of real change in road safety. Through Unite, secondary school students can choose a road safety issue that matters to them, design and deliver their own initiative to address it, and earn NCEA credits through Unit Standard 9681 (or similar) in the process.

This programme champions youth agency, empowering students to take the lead, use their voices, and drive meaningful impact in their communities. It builds leadership, creativity, and a strong sense of purpose – all while making roads safer for everyone.

Read more about the Unite programme and the valuable links between SADD and the curriculum in this article:
https://www.sadd.org.nz/sadd-blog/sadd-and-ncea

Find resources to help facilitate the course here
https://www.sadd.org.nz/activities-resource-hub/road-safety-in-the-curriculum

If you want to find out more information about how to run this course in your school in 2026 contact Donna - donna@sadd.org.nz

As the year wraps up, we want to hear how it went for you! Whether you smashed your SADD goals this year or things didn’t quite go to plan, your insights are incredibly valuable. Even if you didn’t manage to get any activities underway this year we would still appreciate hearing from you.

Take a few minutes to complete our Student or Teacher/Support Staff survey and go in the draw to win a $100 Prezzy card! Your feedback helps shape next year’s resources, events, and support for SADD groups across Aotearoa.

📝 Take the survey here:
- Teachers - SADD end of year survey - teacher/support staff
- Students - SADD end of year survey - students

Every response counts — and it’s the perfect study break before exams!

Check out our events page of our website for all the key dates to pop in your 2026 calendars! Our Delivery Team are working hard to secure Term 1 workshop dates so keep an eye on this page as more dates and locations will be added every week.

A hearty thanks to everyone who has contributed to Kaitiaki o Ara/SADD this month:

JJ, JG, TS & LG from Auckland, HH from Waikato, CR from Tauranga, KJ from Wellington, CL from Nelson, PB from Greymouth, SC from Canterbury, CZ from Otago, TT from Australia,

Your contributions are much appreciated. Every donation goes directly into supporting students by providing resources and opportunities across Aotearoa. Noho ora mai rā!

Kerry Campbell (Upper North Island) email or call 022 319 6101
Melanie Wallace (Central North Island) email or call 027 239 6610
Bobbi Hutchinson (Lower North Island) email or call 021 761 649
Mark McCallum-Unwin (Christchurch Area) email or call 027 451 1253
Lauren Robinson (South Island) email or call 021 624 198