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Whānau day shows the power of a connected community
Whānau day shows the power of a connected community
Scooters were popular at The Active Hub Wh膩nau Day at Richmond Primary in Napier, which offered a chance for the whole community to be active together.
It鈥檚 not every day a Royal Airforce helicopter lands on your school field. And then you get to shoot hoops alongside the local policeman, your teacher, and your mum. That鈥檚 exactly what happened for students at Richmond Primary, a small school in the heart of Maraenui Napier, when a desire for teachers to connect with wh膩nau post-COVID turned into a community-wide celebration.
The Active Hub Wh膩nau Day held in term 3 was the result of the small school, with a roll of 74 and average attendance of 50, recognising the power of collaborating with its community. Like many schools across the motu, the school has felt the impact of COVID and been forced to think outside of the box to overcome these challenges. Most notably student engagement and attendance.
It鈥檚 also been struggling to connect with wh膩nau which, for teacher Karena Ngarangione-Wicks is key to supporting tamariki wellbeing. She says engaged learners start with ensuring they, and their wh膩nau, feel safe and appreciated. 鈥淵ou can't really push all of this other learning on them until they have a sense of belonging and a sense of identity. It鈥檚 no point in pushing, pushing, pushing all of this academic stuff if we haven鈥檛 got those connections, haven鈥檛 built those relationships,鈥� she says.
鈥淪o that was, okay, we need to think out of the box. We need to think outside of the square. We got to think about how we can connect with these kids.鈥�
The landing of a Royal Airforce Helicopter was a highlight of the day for students, wh膩nau and staff.
In the end, the event saw 57 students and 80 wh膩nau members joined by representatives of over 20 community health and physical activity providers for an afternoon of being active, sharing kai and connecting. Tamariki and wh膩nau spent the afternoon on a bouncy castle endurance race, at the play trailer, biking, playing rugby, scooter, and basketball as they also got to know police officers, army people, and firefighters kanohi ki te kanohi. There was also a kai element, with Ka Ora Ka Ako providing food and try-at-home recipe bags for butter chicken (including vege鈥檚 from the school鈥檚 garden).聽
The success of the day can largely be attributed to community collaboration supported by the Hawkes Bay Health and Wellbeing Partnership Group 鈥� the regional advisory group responsible for guiding and coordinating health and wellbeing initiatives across the Hawkes Bay. Primarily Ka Ora, Ka Ako (healthy school lunches), and Healthy Active Learning - the joint-government initiative supporting schools to create healthy and active learning environments and better connections to their local communities. Led regionally by Sport Hawkes Bay, Richmond Primary is one of 40 schools in the Hawkes Bay benefiting from Healthy Active Learning.聽聽
Identifying the need to awhi wh膩nau, and connect them with wellbeing providers in the community if they wanted, the school pitched its idea for an Active Hub Afternoon to the school鈥檚 Sport Hawkes Bay Healthy Active Learning Advisor Sally McKenzie. Sally took the idea back to the steering group and, thanks to the connections within that group and wider community, next thing they knew the New Zealand Defence Force had agreed to fly in a helicopter to kick-start the day. A unanimous highlight for all, including the two girls of Mum Christina Nopera-Ruru.聽聽
鈥淢y babies came home talking about the whole day especially the army people and the wakatopatopa,鈥� she says. A proud past-student herself, Christine says the day was awesome and she hopes it will happen again.聽聽
Richmond Primary teacher Karina Ngarangione-Wicks with students enjoying a game of tug of war.
For those there, the mantra of the day became 鈥測ou can鈥檛 be what you can鈥檛 see鈥� 鈥� an opportunity for tamariki to be exposed to pathways they might not have considered.聽聽
鈥淔or these young tamariki to see their role models being active and then to have their wh膩nau there being active with them was just absolutely gold,鈥� Sally says.聽聽
鈥淚f we can do things that tap into more of that wellbeing, wh膩nau, collective space then that鈥檚 going to be key,鈥� she says, adding that it had also inspired discussions about similar events in other schools.聽
Constable Duane Coffin agrees that the day set a precedent for working collaboratively as a community. For him and his team, the chance to connect with wh膩nau and tamariki in a positive environment provided a rare opportunity which he hopes to have more of.聽
鈥淚t empowered all of us, and the families, tamariki and especially staff who work in a challenging school. It鈥檚 not often that they get wins on the board,鈥� he says.聽聽
Karena is excited reflecting on the opportunity the event presented to meet and collaborate with other people in the community passionate about enhancing the wellbeing of their tamariki.鈥淚t was really nice to meet all of these different wonderful people that had strengths within the community and hear what they do and then work together to come up with all these ideas.鈥澛�
Most significantly though, she says the day has allowed her to build new, lasting, relationships with wh膩nau.聽聽
鈥淚 now have four of my wh膩nau on easy speed dial. It鈥檚 cool. It really helped me to connect.鈥澛犅�
This story first appeared online at
