If Helen Webber was made redundant in the next 20 years she wouldn’t mind, she explained when I went to visit her at the He Huarahi Tamariki Complex in Tawa this week.
He Huarahi Tamariki (A Chance for Children) was established in 1995, to provide a second chance education for students unable to complete their formal education through pregnancy or the birth of a child.
Helen’s vision is for a country that doesn’t have the second highest rate of teen pregnancy in the OECD. But in the meantime she will do everything she can to ensure that our vulnerable young mums have the support and guidance they need to get their lives back on track and to have rich choices for their future.
Helen is the head teacher at He Huarahi Tamariki Complex, an alternative education facility in Tawa specialising in the education and care of pregnant teens and young new mums. With 52 students aged between 14 and 20 currently enrolled, the Teen Parenting Unit offers a variety of secondary school and tertiary courses. Students work towards NCEA credits in subjects such as english,science, classics, maths, and history but students can also take part in tertiary level studies.
“This is the best setup you’ll ever have for studying with a child,” Helen often tells the girls. They have a quality childcare on site, meaning that new mums can breastfeed on demand. A steady flow of health professionals, counsellors, representatives from family planning and other agencies visit regularly to support the students..
Helen would like to capture all those who don’t get to a teen parent unit and fall through the cracks. She dreams of building another storey on her building and expanding the school’s capacity. She wants to see that when students leave the program, to go to university for example, they have readily available childcare and continued support. With a real emphasis on the importance of education, she wouldn’t mind a ‘sentence to school’ policy for youth who have been disengaged from school who come before the courts. With the right support she hopes that the enthusiasm for learning could be reignited.
The Government will spend $14.9 million over the next four years to support teen parents and their children. The idea recently floated by Social Development Minister Paula Bennett of intensive case workers to link teen parents and children to the services and support they need has been welcomed by Helen.
Helen is asking the hard question: Why do New Zealand teens get pregnant at a rate second highest in the OECD, despite having sexual health programs and accessible and free contraception? This is what Helen Webber and Masters Graduate Melissa Waters plan to research over the next year.
A real sense of belonging and an expectation that these teens can succeed was felt as I walked around the complex. Helen told us how the mothers would come back after they’d left to check in or show the teachers their work. “If we called them to ask how they were doing, there would generally be a study plan or career goal mentioned.”
He Huarahi Tamariki has taken a Whanau approach to education promoting personal responsibility, goal setting, and reassuring the young mums that they can have a bright future.
We are so lucky to have such an excellent facility active in our community. Helen is truly inspirational, in her vision forward and in all she has developed and achieved.
The schools motto is “of course you can do it”, and during my visit it was great to see that they can. |