Dazzling Kiwi Can shines inside and out

It’s one of their biggest fundraising nights of the year, where the Graeme Dingle Foundation Marlborough gets sets to Dazzle. William Woodworth joined the Kiwi Can initiative alongside Room 5 at Renwick School to discover how vital funds are being put to good use.

In between classroom learning at school, the Kiwi Can programme teaches young people key life lessons from an early age.

Each term brings a new topic and Kiwi Can leaders Zarya and Tayla are currently teaching the Year 1’s about positive personal relationships.

“Across the four term topics, we put together lessons for students using the ‘Five C’s’ of Competence, Confidence, Connection, Character and Caring with the hope of our work leading to contribution of these kids for their community,” Tayla explains.

“For our positive relationships term with these little ones, it’s little changes, like teaching them to be polite and saying please and thank you through positive reinforcement which gives them a boost of self-esteem for the rest of the day.”

Games help keep the youngsters engaged and when they’re outside the classroom, these lessons come into practice in everyday life,” Tayla says.

It’s about making an impact outside the learning environment and involving family and wider whanau, Zarya says.

“It’s not just the children that learn from our lessons– they take the lessons to their whanau and friends too.

“When I’m in public and overhear students telling their family ‘that’s our KiwiCan leader’ and hear them excitedly teaching older people about what we’ve taught them, that really puts a spring in my step.”

Kiwi Can is the first step of a journey that takes young people through Graeme Dingle Foundation programmes at different stages in their schooling.

Each student visits a Kiwi Can class once a week to enjoy a positive, environment geared towards encouraging self-belief and confidence.

The hope is children become more self-confident and resilient, Zarya explains.

“The resilience topic helping students deal with challenges is probably the most engaging, because we teach emotional management like breathing techniques and counting.

“We give them puzzles in groups to complete, and they use the techniques if they’re getting frustrated – but we also see them using in other models we run and outside in the community, like on sports teams.”

The programme has proven to help children play cooperatively and resolve behavioural issues more easily, builds confidence and reduces bullying in schools.

Dazzle Marlborough will be held at the Omaka Heritage Centre on Saturday 21st September 2024 between 6 and 11.30pm.

Get your Dazzle Marlborough tickets from Dazzle 2024 (raiselysite.com)