Student wellbeing programme Tūturu takes off in Northland

Te Tai Tokerau Northland schools partnered with Tūturu faster than anticipated after word of mouth spread among principals. 

Tūturu, the student wellbeing programme supporting schools to keep rangatahi engaged, has expanded significantly into the regions since last November. 

“We thought we would just start in Whangārei and then slowly, as we become more known, expand across Northland,” Tūturu director Jude Woolston says. 

“[But] we’ve expanded across Northland, and we’ve got so many partnered schools already and … schools reaching out to engage.” 

Rangatahi face complex challenges to their wellbeing, including from online gambling and gaming, the digital space, and alcohol and other drugs (AOD). 

Tūturu provides teachers with practical, classroom-ready content that supports young people to build critical thinking about AOD.  

Its whole-of-school approach also builds schools’ capacity, working with senior leaders, pastoral teams and teachers. 

Already one of the 300+ schools engaging with Tūturu? Take the next step and partner with Tūturu to get a whole-school approach to wellbeing and pastoral care. 

The programme now has team members based in Te Tai Tokerau, Tairāwhiti Gisborne, and Rotorua. 

In Te Tai Tokerau, about a third of the 17 secondary schools engaged with have chosen the partnered approach, which allows for a deeper level of involvement with Tūturu. 

A school in Rotorua also recently signed on for the full partnership model. 

The organisation is working with providers that have deep community links to deliver programmes tailored to each school: Odyssey in Northland, Manaaki Ora Trust in Rotorua, and Pinnacle Midlands Health Network in Tairāwhiti. 

Tūturu has also hired a staff member to provide virtual, online help to educators, including those who may be off the beaten track. 

Tailored to each school and its community 

Twenty-one schools in the three areas targeted in the regional expansion are engaged with Tūturu, on top of seven that have chosen the partnership model. 

In that approach, a Tūturu staff member works alongside each school to establish a dedicated team and co-develop a tailored plan. 

Woolston says school principals in Te Tai Tokerau heard from their colleagues about Tūturu and requested meetings to learn more about it. 

“Every school operates with its own culture and school climate,” Woolston says. 

“So we have to be agile and flexible and meet the school’s needs. 

“We have consistency with the resources we use, and the approach, but how it is implemented in each school is going to be different.” 

Woolston says that in rural communities, where services can be further away or spread thinner, knowing who in the community can support students outside the classroom is vital. 

That’s why local partners were chosen to identify who is already on the ground that can step up when extra help is needed, she says. 

In May, Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey visited Te Kamo High School in Whangārei to hear directly from staff and students about the school’s partnership with Tūturu.