A student who attends Alternative Education was not getting there until after 9.30am each morning due to having to take his younger siblings to Primary School. Then they were needing to leave by 2.30pm each afternoon to pick them up again as Mum was working before and after school at commercial cleaning jobs.
We spoke with Mum to say that this could not continue, and looked at how REAP Marlborough could help the whānau overcome the barriers to being able to work so that Mum could be there before & after school for the younger tamariki.
Mum expressed an interest in becoming a Barista so she attended a 4 hour workshop with our Barista Tutor Brooke, this went really well and Mum gained confidence.
Just to make sure Mum was fully confident Shona from REAP Marlborough also arranged a 1:1 follow-up Barista training session.
We then enrolled her on a First Aid course, and finally helped her to write a CV. An interview was arranged by Mum herself at the local BP petrol station, and Mum armed with her new skills and CV was interviewed for a Barista position 4.30pm – 11.30pm (these hours meant that Dad would be home to look after the tamariki).
GREAT NEWS! Mum got the job and now our rangatahi is no longer late to his classes and is more engaged with his learning.
One of the challenges of online learning is keeping things local and community-focused. Schools and parents have been overwhelmed with the huge variety of opportunities presented, from videos to online courses to activities. But for REAP Marlborough, what was missing was the local flavour.
That’s why they decided to start a YouTube channel specifically for their community, featuring videos by local identities that students could identify as being part of their community. It’s a way to boost engagement and participation, support the wellbeing of the community, and support progress and achievement for students.
Schools in the Marlborough/Kaikoura region have very strong connections with each other. The three Kahui Ako in the area, along with the Pelorus Cluster and the Marlborough Principals Association, are all supportive of each other, and all prioritise connections and wellbeing.
With such a strong base to start from, REAP Marlborough’s job was to find ways to supplement and augment what is already in place. While schools wade through content provided by each other, as well as national and international experts, REAP identified the need for locally-made, locally-relevant materials specific to their community.
The aim of the YouTube channel is to create and share local online learning and fun for early childhood and primary students. Dozens of Marlborough residents have been invited to video a curriculum-based lesson, activity, or clip of themselves reading a story or poem, or singing a song.
Teachers, RTLBs, Life Education Trust staff, Marlborough District Council staff, Enviroschools staff, REAP staff and board members, and even prefects from secondary schools will be making videos, and the channel received nearly 100 visitors in the first 24 hours.
It’s a strong start, and set to grow over the next few weeks. Check out an example of the content here, and follow the YouTube channel and the REAP Marlborough Facebook pages to stay up to date.
REAP Marlborough has worked closely with the Pasifika community for many years on a variety of projects designed to help them integrate confidently into the community. Our relationship with Sana Daunauda (PHO and Pasifika Trust) and Lapu Oliver (Pasifika Advocate) helps us to meet their needs.
In the early years of our association with the Pasifika community we ran monthly meetings where guest speakers shared information on topics that the Pasifika people asked for such as immigration issues, health, community law, education.
A project which as been going for about seven years is the Pasifika Homework Club which REAP Marlborough helped to set up with the support of Marlborough Boys’ and Girls’ Colleges and the Pasifika community. From funding which we all contribute to we are able to employ homework club mentors who work closely with the Pasifika students and their families. Through their performing arts activities they are able to gain extra NCEA credits.
REAP Marlborough has also supported these students at polyfests and one year supplied the boys’ lava lava. Leadership camps and visits to university open
days have also been subsidised by REAP Marlborough.
REAP Marlborough facilitated the Computers in Homes programme coming to Marlborough and many Pasifika families have benefitted from this wonderful course. Other REAP Marlborough funded adult courses include Samoan sewing, Samoan and Tongan weaving (with embedded literacy and numeracy), drivers’ licence, computer skills, ESOL and English language.
There are increasing numbers of Samoans and Tongans arriving in Marlborough through the Pasifika Access Quota scheme so REAP Marlborough paid for a very useful Council booklet called UCan (the dos and don’ts of living in Marlborough) to be translated into Tongan and Samoan. This is a good example of working with Sana and Lapu to make this happen.
Other activities with the Pasifika community include health expos, Adult Learners’ Week performances and youth performing arts mentoring opportunities.
REAP Marlborough values its relationship with Sana and Lapu and the wider Pasifika community.
In partnership with a local Plunket organisation we were able to complete a $100,000 MOE contract for the increase in the size of the Centre building. The project was driven by the need to provide a base for the parents and children of Pasifika families. The increase in participation in ECE practices has been a pleasing outcome. REAP ECE staff provide parenting advice and have a leadership agenda quietly building.
