Kaitiaki o Ara/SADD Newsletter

FEBRUARY EDITION

What's new this month

Kia ora koutou,

Welcome to the Kaitiaki o Ara/SADD newsletter - February edition! We have loads of great content in this month’s issue as well as some reminders and news on coming events that we would love to draw your attention to.

Our Delivery Team has hit the ground running and is currently delivering our Term 1 workshop series at many locations across the motu.

Term 1 workshops are the best way to learn about all of the key opportunities up for grabs through SADD and a great way to find inspiration to get your school SADD group going for 2024. You can find more info about our workshops here.

Registrations for our conference events are coming in fast and we’re so excited to see how many people are keen to come along this year! If you haven’t yet, we encourage you to think about joining us - it is the most fun you can have during the school holidays and an incredible step towards boosting your own future. Registrations are only open until early April so get in quick. We have funding available to support anyone who needs some help to get there - check out our webpage for all the info.

Don’t forget to follow our Facebook and Instagram pages for all the updates, inspiration and key messages to support your SADD journey and road safety knowledge. Our interactive video - The After Party - is on our website for you to use in your group. Give it a go! See more here.

During February we focused on distractions so check out our pages for cool videos, links, helpful stats and info that will help you keep your peers safe on the road.

Enjoy our latest newsletter, stay safe, and register for conference!

Ngā mihi

— Vic, Operations Manager

Haere mai Tayla Hill; Youth Representative 2024

Tayla Hill has moved into the Youth Representative role vacated by Jess Darnley at the end of 2023.

Tayla is from Upper Hutt but is now based in Hamilton as she is attending the University of Waikato whilst studying Environmental Engineering. She was a 2021 - 22 National Leader and has, amongst other things, forged a relationship with New Zealand Institute of Driver Educators, presenting at their 2022 and 2023 conference.

Tayla and Jess worked closely during 2023 and drafted plans that will lead to a higher and active profile for both roles and a better connection with
Kaitiaki o Ara students all across Aotearoa. Tayla will now lead these plans and more through the coming year.

North Otago students find a way to succeed

It’s not something that happens overnight but when students click with an AA District Council, things happen.

North Otago has a strong recent history of both parties coming together and staying the course in the name of road safety.

Nadine Jellyman, Lena Dupu, Maddi Byrne and Casey Kinns joined the District Council at different times. What makes this example unique is that they have overseen not just one handover (year to year), but two periods of succession with the minimum of fuss. In fact, because the bond between students from Waitaki and Oamaru and the North Otago AA District Council is so strong, it happened organically.

This notable example is the subject of a short study so evident good practice can be shared.

Here at Kaitiaki o Ara, we a very keen to link students with other AA District Councils so if you are interested, get in touch with your Delivery Lead or directly with Roger to chat things over.

The Māori Advisory Rōpū take over Pōneke!

Well…not really, but they did get together Wednesday 21st Feb to smash out some mahi. A big mihi to Wellington City Council for organising the amazing venue for us, much appreciated! Check out our latest blog to learn more!

Bagels at Parliament with a side of hui

It may have been the last month of the year but Kaitiaki o Ara rangatahi did not stop their epic mahi!

To celebrate this, young people from South Canterbury SADD groups recently gathered for the South Canterbury Road Safety/Kaitiaki o Ara award ceremony which celebrated everyone who had been involved in the youth road safety space this year.

Awards were presented to young people for participation in Kaitiaki o Ara events and campaigns. Waimate High School took out the “school of the year” award for outstanding contribution to youth road safety and National Leader Zyon Pinamonti was awarded “student of the year” for raising awareness and getting involved in any way possible!

Awards were also given out to all of the incredible community partners who support local SADD groups. Of course, there was plenty of kai on offer too!

New vehicle safety campaign

Earlier this month, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi launched its latest road safety campaign, focused on vehicle safety.

The campaign is aimed at increasing awareness of vehicle safety ratings to help get more people into safer vehicles, which modelling shows will achieve some of the biggest reductions in deaths and serious injuries (DSIs) on our roads in New Zealand.

Research tells us people don’t currently prioritise safety when purchasing a vehicle and most owners of 1 and 2-star cars don’t know their vehicle’s safety rating – yet when made aware of it the vast majority indicated they would buy a safer vehicle in future.

In response, the advertising features a range of ‘cardboard’ vehicles to help raise awareness of our vulnerability in low-safety rated vehicles and address some misconceptions about what makes a vehicle safe.

The call-to-action is for people to visit our Rightcar website to check vehicle safety ratings and get other relevant details to inform their decisions.

https://rightcar.govt.nz/

You can find out more about ‘Your last line of defence’ on the NZTA website.

Driving Change Network are gathering a small but diverse and passionate group of young people to present a youth perspective on the future of the driver licensing system.

If this sounds like you and you want to register your interest in being a member of their Youth Voice Workgroup

Send an email here!

Quite honestly, the team at Kaitiaki o Ara are still reeling from the number of people who choose us as the recipient for their contribution to road safety. We don’t just accept this gesture and move on. We actively contact everyone who does this and sometimes enter into conversation about why.

A standout comment this month was simply - “I wanted to donate as I wish I had your program when I was in school because I know it would have taught me and a lot of other students it’s why I wanted to make the donation so more people don’t drink and drive.”

This month we want to thank EL in Auckland, IS and CL from Waikato, TB in Rotorua, CL and BP both of New Plymouth, AG and NL from Wellington and finally SM all the way from Tasmania.

In our usual fashion - a massive and hearty thank-you to you all!