Children from Northcote School in Christchurch were delighted to meet Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern last week when she popped in to see first-hand the way Mana Ake – Stronger for Tomorrow is enhancing the wellbeing and the mental health of our tamariki.

The PM took the opportunity to talk to children, whānau and teachers to hear more about how the initiative works and see some of the group activities that are available through Mana Ake in action.

School Principal, Justin Perriam and Learning Support Coordinator Briarne Oldham talked about how Mana Ake supports their school to work with other schools in the cluster to prioritise how they use the resource, which means that schools are much more aware of the range of needs across their community. They also talked to the benefits they see of agencies working more closely together.

Mana Ake offers support for children in school years 1-8 who are experiencing issues that impact their wellbeing such as managing emotions, friendships and bullying, parental separation and grief and loss.

Mana Ake kaimahi (workers) work with schools to support teachers, families and whānau. They can work with individual children and their families at school, in the community or at home; and with groups of children in schools. They also provide advice, guidance and support for teachers and family/ whānau.

The kaimahi, recruited directly by 13 non-government organisations which make up the provider network, have a diverse range of skills and include social workers, counsellors, teachers, youth workers and psychologists.

 “For anything to be successful there has to be real and genuine connection and Mana Ake kaimahi and kairahi build relationships across the schools and their communities. The way they work allows children whose parents might not usually engage with services to access valuable support.

 “I’ve been around long enough to be cynical, but with Mana Ake I’m not. This is the real deal,” says Justin.

The initiative was launched by the Prime Minister in February 2018 as the first stage of the Government’s plan to deliver dedicated mental health support to children in school years 1-8 across Canterbury.

During the visit the Prime Minister and Minister Woods spoke very positively of the way Mana Ake has been implemented, from the original workshop that Minister Woods attended through to the leadership of the SLA and the collaboration across the Provider Network.

Canterbury Clinical Network is responsible for leading the design and delivery of the initiative, which is a collaboration between the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, Canterbury DHB, Oranga Tamariki, Police, non-government organisations and consumers.

To find out more about Mana Ake, visit the CCN webpage.