SEPTEMBER EDITION

What's new this month

Tēnā koutou katoa!

Last month was jam-packed with so many fantastic road safety activities across Aotearoa! A big shout out to those of you who participated in making this September a SAFER September. It was amazing to see the fruits of all your hard work and effort.

"Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini" - Success is not the work of an individual, but the work of many.

Our team has grown again! Nau mai haere mai to our newest Central North Island Delivery Lead Renee. I officially hand over the newbie status and I'm happy it's you I'm handing it to. She's got a go-getter attitude with vibrant energy, watch out Central North😄

Keep scrolling to see all the fun we had throughout SAFER September, and also see what we achieved in celebration of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori!

Kia pai tō rā,

— Bobbi, Programme Delivery Lead - Lower North Island

The close of Term 3 can feel like a bit of a warning signal to us all that the end of the 2022 school year is in sight, so it is time to think about who might take your place as your school SADD representatives if you are moving on at the end of this year.

At SADD/Kaitiaki o Ara we call this “passing the torch” and encourage you to consider how you can pass on all the knowledge, experience, contacts, and momentum you gained while in your role to the next leaders so your legacy continues.

Our team is here to support you through this process and we’ll share some resources over the coming weeks to help you successfully “pass the torch” in your school.

In the meantime, check out this blog from one of our National Leaders a few years ago, talking about his experience in ensuring continuity of SADD in his school.

SAFER September Wrap-up/Highlights

As SAFER September draws to a close, we want to give a big shout-out to all of our awesome SADD/Kaitiaki o Ara members who took the time this month to share road safety messages with your schools and communities. This campaign is all about taking action and having conversations to influence safer road user behaviors for everyone in Aotearoa. We have seen some fantastic activities happening across the country, loads of creativity, and plenty of collaboration and sharing on social media to get those key messages spread far and wide. Thank you to everyone who took part and for standing up for safety this SAFER September!

Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori recap

Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori fell during September and this year was particularly special as it marked 50 years since the Māori Language Petition was delivered to parliament, which paved the way for Te Reo Māori revitalisation.

To celebrate this milestone, we worked with Wellington Highschool Māori Performing Arts Class on releasing our first ever full reo Māori Road Safety video, as well as working on some easy rerenga kupu.

Kaitiaki o Ara team also celebrated with our reo Māori based Kahoot!, learning a waiata and a team kupu bingo game. A shout out goes to Lydia for using all kupu and winning bingo!

We will continue our mahi with the Māori Engagement Rōpū to maintain momentum in this space. Check out the “Behind the Scenes” in our latest blog!

Kia pai tō ra!

Kaitiaki o Ara welcomes Renee

You may have seen that we have recently welcomed a new Programme Delivery Lead to the SADD family, Renee has joined us in the Central North Island and brings a load of energy and experience working with young people. Check out this blog to find out more about our latest SADD delivery star and if you're in the Central North Island, feel free to get in touch with Renee at renee@sadd.org.nz

Darfield High School joins Christchurch Police checkpoint

The team from Christchurch Road Policing invited SADD students from Darfield High School to take part in a Police checkpoint during SAFER September. The students got to see how the road policing team works, hear about some of the strategies behind checkpoints, and ask the police questions. As part of their role, they handed out chocolates and SADD conversation cards to everyone who was driving sober, as a thank-you for keeping our roads safe. It was a fun and informative evening, big thanks to Ben from Canterbury Road Policing for organizing it.

"The checkpoint we did with the NZ Police was a really fun experience and adventure, being able to get an inside look into what it's like, and what happens, as well as the number of resources it takes to operate a checkpoint. And how times change, from (Police) staying in one place, to moving around every 30 minutes due to social media. It was definitely a really good insight, and I would recommend it to anyone.

I definitely enjoyed being able to see the happy faces of drivers when we gave them a little chocolate for choosing to drive safely. It definitely made a difference in the mood. It was definitely an amazing experience and urge everyone to give it a go if you can, there's a lot of insight into drivers and the Police." Levi Turpin - Darfield High

Some dates for your calendar

Phone Free Day 6th October

Join their webinar on 4th October - details are here

Phone Free Day Webinar

We like what Taino at Phone Free Day is doing so check in if you can. Amy Williamson (Principle Advisor Road User Choices, Waka Kotahi) is on the panel.

Sandra Dacey (Upper North Island) email or call 027 279 3130
Renee Leabourn (Upper North Island) email or call 027 239 6610
Bobbi Hutchinson (Lower North Island) email or call 021 761 649
Lydia Newlands (Upper South Island) email or call 021 624 198
Mark Unwin (Lower South Island) email or call 027 451 1253