A Tauranga after-school mentoring programme working with disadvantaged young girls is officially launching today, with hopes of running in schools throughout the Bay of Plenty. The Tipu Skills for Life programme works with girls aged 8 to 11 years old, teaching them about life skills, identifying emotions, self-worth, healthy relationships and setting life goals.
It has been developed over the past eight years and so far students from Greerton Village, Arataki, Gate Pa and Merivale Primary schools have participated so far. The launch also marks the beginning of its partnership with Auckland-based mentoring organisation Brothers In Arms, which buddies up a young person with an adult mentor.
The course participants were referred to the course by school staff and some came from disadvantaged backgrounds and struggled with anger problems, difficulties forming friendships or other social problems. The two-part programme involved an intensive eight-week segment where a group of about six girls and programme facilitators met for two-and-a-half hours every week.
National programme developer and school social worker Claire Henry developed the course with national director Stuart Caldwell after she came across young girls smoking at school due to family peer pressure. Aside from teaching the girls basic life skills and building character through a strengths-focused approach, Henry said the course also explored the girls' future dreams and life ambitions.
She said improved leadership skills and better anger management were standout changes she saw in participants. Caldwell said the girls had often never been exposed to the ideas and skills the programme covered. The Tipu Skills for Life course is set to branch out into Fairhaven School and Te Puke Primary next term and has received expressions of interest from schools in the wider Bay of Plenty.
