What is Kia Ora Ake?

Kia Ora Ake provides support to children / tamariki in Counties Manukau, from when they start primary school, to the end of the intermediate years. It aims to promote wellbeing, improve hinengaro and provide a range of interventions for positive mental health at the earliest opportunity.

Who is providing it?

Kia Ora Ake is a network of providers covering the whole Counties Manukau District. Providers are a mix of kaupapa Maaori, Pacific, Asian and mainstream agencies. Kia Ora Ake providers employ both kaiaarahi (registered health professionals) and kaimanaaki (non-health professionals), to support your school in terms of hinengaro wellbeing. This is done via the following approaches:

• Whole of school / whole of year group/s programmes;
• Small group programmes;
• Individual work for tamariki and whaanau. This is most likely to comprise of engagement, gathering information, helping to determine what service(s) may be of assistance and helping this come to fruition.

How are they providing it?

Your Kia Ora Ake provider will be introduced to you by your Ministry of Education Service Manager. They will work in partnership with you, and with the SENCo, RTLB, Learning Support, nursing and other staff with pastoral care roles. This configuration is different for each school, and you will be able to determine how your Kia Ora Ake Provider complements what is already in place in your school, with the aim of enhancing tamariki hinengaro wellbeing. Kia Ora Ake does not want to duplicate what is already in place within your school. It is helpful if your Kia Ora Ake Provider has one key point of contact / liaison within the school to make regular contact with.

Child safety and Police Vetting 

Like all health services, Kia Ora Ake providers are required by law to undertake Police vetting on all staff, including core child workers such as Kia Ora Ake kaiaarahi and kaimanaaki. Responsibility for safety checking always rests with the employing or contracting organisation. This means Services or Schools should exercise due diligence when relying on checks undertaken by others. 

From Vulnerable Children Act 2014: A practical guide for Early Childhood Education Services, Ngā Kōhanga Reo, Playgroups, Schools and Kura, Ministry of Education1: 

“Under VCA, organisations may rely on safety checks that have been conducted by others on their behalf. Where some or all components of the safety check have been completed by another organisation on your behalf (such as by an agency providing relief teachers, or a teacher training provider placing students on practicum in your Service or school), you are responsible for confirming that these components have been completed and that a full safety check has been done. 

Some type of formal agreement or acknowledgement is required to establish the safety check is being done on behalf of the specified organisation. For example, this could be an MoU, or letter of intent. If you choose to rely on a safety check completed on your behalf, we recommend that you: 

seek permission from the person who is being safety checked for the information to be shared. This permission could be sought by the person or organisation completing the safety check before it is undertaken or by you prior to requesting the information. 

• Prior to the safety check, obtain confirmation from the person or organisation that they are undertaking the safety check on your behalf. 

• Obtain in writing from the person or organisation completing the safety check that they have done this to the standard set out in the VCA. 

• Complete a separate identity check and risk assessment for all children’s workers, even if these have already been completed by another person or organisation.