Carterton School and Council Community Skate project
26 July 2024
The role Carterton School is playing in promoting the wellbeing of tamariki in their community is not just confined to the school day.
Back in 2021, Carterton School reviewed their practices around physical activity and wellbeing through engagements with staff and students. The establishment of the Healthy Active Learning initiative provided a timely opportunity to work together to achieve their visions. The partnership started with some initial discussions to understand the current picture and future aspirations. A staff workshop facilitated by our Healthy Active Learning advisor then helped to set some goals. These goals provided a clear plan ready for our official Healthy Active Learning partnership to commence at the start of 2022.
Carterton School sits right beside Carrington Park, with the grass areas being used extensively by the school. Included in the council playground is a skateboarding area, which was not being widely used by the school Tamariki at the time.
The Healthy Active Learning team had an existing relationship with OnBoard Skate, which had involved connecting expertise and equipment into some Masterton schools to help with the demand created by the major upgrade of the council park. OnBoard Skate are passionate about reducing barriers to physical activity and enabling people to be active through skateboarding. Importantly, they gathered student voice at Carterton School to identify the wants and needs of the Tamariki. Following this, a Tū Manawa funding application was successful, which enabled regular instructor-led sessions and equipment for day-to-day use at Carterton School.
One of the Healthy Active Learning outcomes is based around schools strengthening their connections with the community, whānau and local providers. Lisa Birrell is the Executive Officer of Carterton school and is a major driver of this related outcome. Lisa led the process of the school taking over the local community holiday programme previously and saw a similar opportunity through skateboarding. Therefore, Lisa facilitated a process which involved Healthy Active Learning Advisor Darren Houston, OnBoard Skate CEO Steve Hodges and Carterton District Council, to get the wheels in motion with this initiative!
Part of this process involved seeking further funding for a storage container that could safely house the skateboarding equipment right beside the activity space. This has helped with easy access for school and community use, with the container being separate to the school buildings.
The event details were promoted widely through various social media platforms, which led to a great uptake of new and existing skateboarders in the local and surrounding areas! OnBoard skate provided the instructors and additional equipment on the day.
Feedback on the day gathered via a parent survey and through general discussions were extremely positive. So much so, several Tamariki wanted to stay on for the second session. All in all, there were two community sessions and a third that integrated with the school holiday programme.
Looking ahead, the aim is to have this opportunity as a regular part of the Carterton holiday event programme. There are also plans to extend the programme to include Tamariki and Rangatahi sessions. A key ongoing vision is for the skateboarding activations to be locally led by the skate community, with the school and other stakeholders playing a supporting role.
This is a great example of how schools and community providers can work together to provide quality physical activity opportunities for their Tamariki beyond the school day.
If you have any questions or enquiries for our Healthy Active Learning Team, please e-mail Zak Brown – Healthy Active Learning Manager at zakb@nukuora.org.nz.
