KOWAIAUY O U T H P R O G R A M M E

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contents

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aspiration

kowaiau

social

cultural

physical

achievements

future development

partners

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poriruas’ growing youthful population combined with diminishing youth based programmes identified a need to support vulnerable tamariki and rangatahi. Kowaiau is a programme Porirua Whanau Centre have developed in consultation with police, schools, churches, health and community organisations. Introduced into local schools of Porirua in 2014, the programme has been driven by the community to address issues involving crime, bullying, truancy, obesity and inappropriate social behaviours.

Kowaiau assists Tamariki in making better choices. We teach them to respect each other by highlighting the importance of self-control, self-confidence and the ability to walk away from confrontation. These tools allow the students to feel safe and provide an environment conducive for learning.

ASPIRATION

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The programme uses a holistic approach using three focus areas as a framework. These are:

kowaiau

SOCIAL

CULTURAL PHYSICAL

celebration

identity

creativityfitness

technique

compettition

self-controlchoices

self-confidence

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socialThe Social lessons are the main drive of Kowaiau. We deliver Rock and Water, a physical social learning programme for these sessions. It is used to assist youth in developing self-control, self-confidence and the ability to walk away from confrontation. The programme assists youth in making good choices. Young children are free to make choices, however the consequences for each decision are difficult for some to foresee. As opposed to the traditional FIGHT or FLIGHT to any confrontation, the Social sessions teach youth that there is a Rock and a Water approach to everything we do.

“You’ve taught me to accept and appreciate

others. Also to stand up to a bully and to be proud of

who I am” - Novao

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“Thank you for teaching us how to walk

away from a fight and how to walk past a gang of people

with different styles, now I am not afraid to walk away from a bad situation”

– Jonty

“Through the sessions I have learnt how to walk

away using water attitude. I’ve learnt to ignore negative comments and walk away, also to stick up for others.”

- Whare

due to the strong maori and samoan representation within porirua schools kowaiau utilise the two cultures to teach children about whenua/Tagata Nu’u of Porirua and give our children a sense of belonging to their community.

Identity

The children learn more about who they are through Mau Rakau. We teach Rangatahi/Tupulaga Talavou:

• To have pride in and celebrate Maori Culture• Landmarks and Taonga• Their local area and the place they call home. Giving them a

sense of belonging to Porirua, Tangata Whenua and Ngati Toa.

CULTURAL

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Creativity

The Samoan SASA are hand movements used to depict activities taken from everyday life. These activities include for example… climbing coconut trees, making ava and pulling taro leaves. We use this idea to have the children create a sit-down dance that reflects their daily activities. They include favourite dance moves, hobbies and simply “what’s IN”. We encourage them to have real positive attitude in whatever their team comes up with.

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“I enjoyed the different commands we did with

the Taiaha. I also loved the different actions and different

drum beats for the cultural sessions.”

The physical sessions incorporate the old with the new. Each session includes workouts influenced by the latest craze cross fitness. The children workout then learn and play a traditional Maori game.

The training of the Maori Games was delivered to us by “Rangatahi Tu Rangatira”, an organization that travels New Zealand learning the history of games played by various iwi. They then modify the game to relevant sports gear and train health providers and organizations to teach them in schools

PHYSICAL

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Fair Play

Children are rewarded if they display Effort, Encouragement and Technique. Physical sessions have a competitive vibe to the Maori games. The byproduct of this is that all the tools taught to the children throughout the social lessons, are put to the test when the game is on the line. If Rock talk (negative comments) are used during the game, this is brought up in the end of the session.

“Thank you for encouraging us through crossfit, we have learnt tons of different games” –Room 5 Student, Brandon

Intermediate

Kowaiau has now successfully completed the 24 week programme in Porirua Schools with another eight registered for 2016.To further enhance Kowaiau, we are reviewing the homework module to include Whanau and Caregivers. With the assistance of Regional Public Health evaluations will be analysed over a three year period to measure outcomes and evidence of the difference the programme made.

ACHIEVEMENTS

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contentsfuture developmentTo further enhance Kowaiau, Porirua Whanau Centre have a community gym which supports the physical aims and provides an alternative after school option. High School and Intermediate students have an opportunity to participate in fitness sessions with our youth team. The potential for Kowaiau is broad and can expand to include future messaging. To the extent where funders can engage Kowaiau to deliver their messages e.g. White Ribbon 15 minute module that includes the “its not ok” messages. Also lessons on Cyber Bullying awareness which is now evident in Social Media.

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partners

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