Support for Year 8 Tamariki

Our new team member, Mark O’Donnell is doing some exciting work with year 8 boys from three Dunedin schools.

Generally, they are disengaged from schools – for a myriad of reasons. The service is based on finding alternative ways of engaging these rangatahi, which leads to them wanting to be at school, and at the same time helps restore their own personal mana.  

They learn practical skills while giving back to and engaging with the community they live in.

Some older rangatahi, who have had similar experiences at the same age, have worked alongside them and provided excellent peer input into their development.  It has also given the older rangatahi their own confidence, and provided opportunities to reflect on their own journeys.

As a tangible example - one group made a Lilliput library for a rest home in the city.

Mark and one of the young people who made the library took it to the home. This young person is incredibly shy and hardly ever talks or expresses himself. When the library was delivered, the rest home residents (observing Covid protocols) came out to thank him and sang for he's a jolly good fellow. They asked him about the project, and he happily - with a true sense of pride - talked to them about what he had done to get the library built.

There have been several community-related projects like that that have reinforced in these young people the things they can do to contribute to their community.

Their projects involve maths – measuring materials, angles and the lengths of pieces that go into the finished product.  Comprehension and communication are integral to the activities and science also comes into play.  The bug motels built for one of the schools were carefully placed in the school grounds and the bugs that choose to live there will be monitored.

Mark’s work is supported by the schools; by local joiners including Abernethy’s; Aotearoa Gaming Trust; and individuals who fund materials for the tamariki to create things with.  We are seeking more funding support currently in the hope we can expand the service.

The boys proudly showing off their creation before it was placed in school grounds.