JUNE EDITION

What's new this month

Kia ora koutou,

Welcome to our June newsletter!

It has been another super productive month here at Kaitiaki o Ara with lots of workshops and activities taking place nationwide.

In this edition, we share some highlights from the month, including an awesome blog post that was written by a group of students at our Dunedin conference earlier this year. It’s definitely worth checking out and is a great one to share with your own school and/or groups.

The weather is certainly cooling down across the motu with lots of rain and a few frosty mornings becoming the norm. There’s no better time to remind everyone of what actions they can take to keep safe on the roads during this season. Check your tyres, plan your trips and allow plenty of time to get where you need to go.

With less than 2 weeks left of the term, we wish everyone a fantastic break and look forward to kicking off Term 3 with a bang!

Nga mihi,

— Vic, Operations Manager, Kaitiaki o Ara/SADD

Monthly theme: Drive to the Conditions

🌨️🚗 Stay Safe on the Roads this Winter 🚗🌨️

Winter is here, and so are the challenging driving conditions. Whether you're navigating icy roads or dealing with reduced visibility, it's crucial to drive with extra caution.

Safety Tips:

1. Slow down and maintain a safe following distance.

2. Ensure your vehicle is winter-ready – check your tyres, brakes, and windshield wipers.

3. Keep headlights on low beam to improve visibility.

4. Carry emergency supplies on long trips: blankets, food, water, and a first-aid kit.

Let's look out for each other on the roads and take all precautions to ensure everyone makes it through the chilly season safely.

Delivery Team: Month round-up

Kaitiaki o Ara recently ran workshops all over the country for Term 2, and they were awesome! The SADD team was blown away by the amazing commitment, planning, and creative ideas from groups across the motu. There are so many exciting plans lined up for the rest of Term 2, Term 3, and SAFER September. It's going to be an epic time for road safety and youth engagement!

Taipa Area School SADD Group

Taipa Area School has launched their Students Against Dangerous Driving (SADD) group following the attendance of two students at the 2024 Auckland Conference. Sophia Keoghan, who attended both the 2023 and 2024 conferences, was joined by her sister, Nikita Keoghan, at the latest event. Inspired and energized by their experiences, they returned to school determined to establish and lead their own SADD group.

The Taipa Area School SADD group has been collaborating with the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) through the "Improving Road Safety with Māori" project. After their first group workshop, the members are keen to engage with the community and promote road safety initiatives, aiming to create a safer environment for everyone.

Students and teachers of the Taipa Area School SADD group are also eager to encourage other schools in the Far North region to establish their own SADD groups. We are excited to see the innovative ideas and initiatives that will emerge from this dedicated group.

Measure before Pressure

At this year’s SADD conferences, we challenged groups to create digital content to reach young people all over the country to educate them about a road safety issue. Group 6 at our Dunedin event wrote a blog post as part of their challenge and they chose to address peer pressure as their topic. Give it a read!

Dates for your calendar

Rail Safety Week 5th - 11th August - will follow theme from last year with updates to come for 2024:

UN International Youth Day 12th August

We’re putting this list together a little early this month but we still have plenty of people to thank as you will soon read.

We want to acknowledge:

RJ from Cambridge, KJ in New Plymouth and HS of Riwaka. A heartfelt thank-you for choosing us.

A special mention this week goes to a late arrival from last month:

Makoura College, Masterton students Ella & Emily (members of the Kaitiaki o Ara Maori Advisory Ropu), Latrell, along with their SADD group and senior leadership organised a Yellow Day during and in support of Road Safety Week. Their aim was to raise awareness of road safety heroes.

They also took the opportunity to raise funds for SADD. Students brought a gold coin or made a donation to dress in yellow that day. They had a lot of fun putting this together and were no strangers to organising this as it was their 3rd year running the annual Yellow Day at their school. They raised $93.50.

A massive big shout out and thank-you for all involved and who got into the spirit of Road Safety Week. We salute you!

Kerry Campbell (Upper North Island) email or call 022 319 6101
Renee Leabourn (Central North Island) email or call 027 239 6610
Bobbi Hutchinson (Lower North Island) email or call 021 761 649
Mark McCallum-Unwin (Lower South Island) email or call 027 451 1253