Kia ora Whanau,
Welcome back to Term 2. Term 1 was a whirlwind of activities and events and because of this we were unable to get our normal newsletter out to you. To recap on some of the great things that happened in Term 1:
Platinum Homes/DVS Pro-Am Golf Tournament
This tournament involved 10 of our Tikipunga High School students caddying for professional golfers for two days! Students were totally worn out at the end of this but what an experience it was with some looking at taking up golf in the future. A big thanks to Platinum Homes for sponsoring I Have a Dream as the charity of choice for this tournament. We raised almost $10,000 over the two days and what’s more we’ve been asked back for the 2020 tournament and to once again have student involvement. Fact – Did you know that you walk about
10kms when you play 18 holes of golf!
Visitor Open Day
This event, hosted by Tikipunga Primary School, was a huge success with about 25 visitors coming along to learn about how I Have a Dream works with students enrolled in our partner schools in the Tikipunga area. Most of these visitors will hopefully become future donors, mentors or volunteers. The powhiri for our visitors was just amazing with the whole school involved . The singing brought tears to the eyes of many of our visitors who had never experienced a powhiri before. Thank you to Cherise and the staff at Tikipunga Primary for making the day so successful. Further Open Days will take place in Terms 3 and 4.
Mentoring and Volunteering
We ran our first Mentor Evening for our volunteer Mentors who will be working with Year 6 students this year. If you would like to become a mentor or know of someone who would get in touch with Diane (diane@ihaveadream.org.nz). We have a range of opportunities available.
I Have a Dream 2019 TV Commercial
We continue to work closely with Media Works and have produced and promoted our TV commercial. This has recently ran on TV3 for a number of weeks. It is supported by Duncan Garner on the radio.
University of Auckland Research
In partnership with the University of Auckland we conducted research with over 400 students, school staff and I Have a Dream staff to obtain quality data on how I Have a Dream and our schools are helping our students plan for their future. The University report will summarise the findings showing where improvements can be made and highlighting our successes.
Gumboot Friday
Gumboot Friday was a fun day involving all four of our schools. This country-wide initiative was to support Kiwi kids suffering from mental health issues. Our staff turned out in their gumboots for the day and ran a series of lunchtime activities with our schools. Our kids across our four schools donated $547.10 towards this great cause.
Easter Egg donation
Thank you to a very kind donor who gifted easter eggs to our programme. We ran a small survey and for those who answered the questions their names were put in the draw and we had two lucky winners. Well done to Keiza Cook and
Manaia Whaterau who won some yummy easter eggs. Thank you to all parents and caregivers who responded to the survey. The comments passed on by you made an interesting and rewarding read. Here’s one of the many: “Me and my children love the I Have a Dream Programme. I Have a Dream has done so much for our community making our kids dreams become a vision for their future through commitment, dedication and understanding”!
ANZAC Day
I Have a Dream staff were proud to lay their carefully crafted wreath during the service held at Pehiaweri Marae. It was an extremely moving event with the powhiri being followed by a service. War veterans shared some of their highly emotional stories. Thanks to Rose for organising the I Have a Dream customised wreath.
Enrolments
We now have well over 700 students enrolled into the I Have a Dream Programme and are now nearing 85% of all students across our 4 schools signed up. We are excited to announce that now Year 0 and 2 students are included. Whaea Louise and Whaea Laura—our new Whanau Support Co-Ordinators— work out of Tikipunga Primary School and Totara Grove School to ensure our Year 0-2 Dreamers are well settled into school routines. If you haven’t had a chance to catch up with Louise or Laura be sure to get in touch with them. Louise works out of Tikipunga Primary School and Laura from Totara
Grove Primary School
PLUS a lot of exciting stories as our Navigators have been busy supporting tamariki in classrooms, running their after school programmes and helping out with school trips and events…. See photos over the page.
Nga Mihi Nunui Kia Koutou, we can’t do it without you.
Ant Backhouse – CEO
You can help I Have A Dream create successful
futures for Kiwi kids.
