Community partnership approach to ākonga re-engagement

Te Tupu staff take students to relational therapy using horses at the organisation Leg Up Trust, which supports young people with behavioural issues and learning difficulties.

Community involvement to ensure a child’s wellbeing and growth is at the heart of Te Tupu’s wrap-around service for tamariki, their whānau and community support services.

Under the Napier-based Te Tupu pilot programme, a range of services and agencies collaborated to provide a tailored support system across 22 schools for Year 3–8 children at risk of disengagement from learning or of exclusion.

“This programme is for at-risk and vulnerable children at crisis point in their education,” says Te Tupu governance group chair and Tamatea Intermediate School principal Jo Smith.

Community collaboration

Te Tupu is led by a cross-agency governance group made up of school leaders, social sector agencies and iwi, hapū and whānau representation.

Among organisations involved with the programme are Napier health and social service Te Kupenga Hauora – Ahuriri; iwi service provider Roopu A Iwi Trust; the Ministry of Education; the Hawke’s Bay DHB; child welfare agency Oranga Tamariki; New Zealand Police; Resource Teachers of Learning and Behaviour (RTLB); Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu (the correspondence school), and strategic leadership development group, the Springboard Trust.

Te Tupu creates a plan tailored for the student and then provides wrap-around support.

“In other programmes, kids had to meet criteria,” says Jo.

“Our intervention is not about students having to fit into a box. We consider what can be put around them, what those services can be. One-size-fits-all doesn’t work. Every child has a different experience depending on what their needs are.”

Close engagement with whānau is integral to the programme’s success. Whānau get support at the same time as the student.

As part of Te Tupu’s cycling programme staff and students visit sites of cultural significance to learn the stories and promote their turangawaewae.

“Our point of difference is all these services work together and wrap around the child. It’s a great community collaboration.”

Data backs approach

Part of the time students have with Te Tupu is preparation for transition back into the school environment. The Te Tupu centre offers the child a chance to breathe and to get all the support systems in place.

“Most stay for about 10 weeks, then they transition back to school. Learnings go on while the children are with Te Tupu, and their learnings are brought back to the school.”

Key findings from an extensive data analysis on outcomes undertaken by the Ministry found there was a significant reduction in the stand-down and suspension rates for Napier City tamariki in Years 1–8, from 2015 to 2021; significant improvement in attendance rates for tamariki who have attended Te Tupu, when comparing their pre-Te Tupu attendance to post-Te Tupu attendance.

“This has changed the game,” says Jo. “I haven’t had to exclude a student since this has been operational. I’m absolutely delighted. We’ve seen the programme change lives. Because it’s a community approach, it’s not just school-based.”

Te Tupu staff were concerned students involved in the programme might be stigmatised, says the programme’s coordinator, Damien Izzard.

“But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Many students approach me and ask how they can come to us. I say, ‘hopefully you don’t have to’.”

Te Tupu creates an environment of aroha, says Damien. “One thing that sets us apart from other initiatives is continued support. A chaotic home environment can be a barrier. Many students live in motels. We’re all about reducing barriers.”

Enhancing mana

Kaupapa Māori methodologies are used by Te Tupu staff, with care and education centred around a culturally responsive approach.

One such approach is Te Ara Whakamana: Mana Enhancement model. This is a circular framework that uses the Māori creation story and archetypes to connect individuals to their mana.

The Mana Enhancement behavioural programme teaches students to identify their triggers and to work out strategies for responses in various contexts, says the report.

“We are two-thirds Māori students in our environment,” says Damien.

“The Mana Enhancement programme underpins what we do. If we use Maui as atua (deity) of the week we can work with the curriculum around that.”

Te Tupu also uses Mason Durie’s Te Whare Tapa Whā, a model that refers to a wharenui to illustrate the five dimensions of wellbeing. These are taha tinana (physical health), taha hinengaro (mind), taha whānau (family), taha wairua (the spiritual dimension) and taha whenua (appreciating the land, the beauty of nature around us).

“Whether you’re Māori or Pākehā, lots of programmes we use are easily manipulated or very relevant.”

A change in mindset

Mindset around old-school disciplinary measures is something Te Tupu governance group is desperately trying to change, says Damien.

“We’re not blaming schools for having to use punitive measures. Schools need support for everyone there. Our community has an alternative. We don’t need just the punitive response.”

The report notes whānau and schools had identified that a timely response, with a fast turnaround, had positive impacts on tamariki.

“Since the child came back to school, they have made remarkable progress,” says one student leader in the report.

“They were referred to Te Tupu for defiance, foul language, and running away. The school had come to a point where none of our strategies were working, and the next step would have been exclusion. Now, you couldn’t tell that student from the others. We are just delighted with the progress they have made.”

The financial cost of the programme is far outweighed by the cost of crime and corrections, courts, and police resources, says Damien.

“Another thing is the opportunity cost. These students, if not in school, are losing opportunities to be around positive experiences such as sport.

“I’m passionate about the success we’ve had. I look at the value of what we do and the number of children and whānau we see. Rather than spend resources on situations when they’re too far gone, we represent pretty good value.”

Te Tupu staff members Charisse Cardie and Naz Patterson are joined by a Ministry of Education staff member and a parent as they prepare to take students on a cycling activity.

Te Tupu – the beginnings

Seeds for the Te Tupu model were sown at a community meeting in which a police representative said if intervention prevented only one of 40 children from committing a serious crime, the cost of investment in that child would cover the cost of running the programme.

“In 2017, for the first time in a long time, all Napier principals gathered together to talk about challenges in schools,” says Jo. “Some vulnerable learners were not getting adequate support.”

A research report presented in the same year included recommendations across five settings: the attitudes and dispositions of individuals; classrooms; education and training provider group Kāhui Ako settings; whānau and community connections and relationships; and system-level responses.

“In response to this recommendation, a cross-agency governance group was formed and Te Tupu was conceptualised,” says the final evaluation report.

“In 2019, funding of $1.086 million was received to enable the concept to be piloted over a three-year period and its success evaluated.”

The evaluations were to explore the effectiveness of Te Tupu as a response to tamariki at risk of disengagement from education.

“We were told to go ahead with the prototype,” says Jo. “Part of the funding included a hefty amount for evaluations but we’re happy. The evaluation will be a consideration in next year’s budget.”