1500 kids' lives changed forever

Ant Backhouse

A low decile school in Auckland has churned out a troop of high-achievers, including doctors, neuroscientists and designers.

Now the secret to the school's success is coming to Whangarei and could change the lives of 1500 children.

Next year, the I Have A Dream programme will take in the 600 students in Year 1 to 8 at Tikipunga Primary School, Totara Grove School, Te Kura o Otangarei and Tikipunga High School.

The method is simple: Pupils are assigned a "navigator" to help them traverse the education system, with intensive tutoring and mentorship.

At yesterday's launch, some of the 53 students who came through the Auckland pilot project spoke to the Advocate.

Salote Makasani, 20, was studying neuroscience and wanted to go on to medical school, while friend Janita Siva, 21, had just graduated as a nurse.

Meanwhile "dreamer" Amelia Unufe is making waves in the fashion world, with designer Kiri Nathan - who works with the likes of Beyonce - saying the 20-year-old is the best intern she has ever had.

The programme had been "the main support of where I am now", Ms Unufe said. "Being pushed, supported, and them just being there. I had two brothers who didn't finish high school ... I'm the first in my family to get a degree."

Eighty per cent of pupils from the pilot went on to university, compared with 30 per cent of those from similar backgrounds who were not in the programme. The Whangarei intake is the first time entire schools will be encompassed.

Ant Backhouse was navigator for the original 53 and said he started without the "fancy title" he has now, as chief executive of the I Have A Dream Foundation.

Mr Backhouse and trust founder Scott Gilmour worked for more than two years to raise money for the Whangarei programme, which costs about $1000 per student per year.

The men had joined forces with the Ngatahi Education Initiative with a mission statement that: "Education is a proven social investment able to break inter-generational cycles of poverty."

The programme works with students for a 10 to 15-year period.

"As students grow up we'll add in the year 1 kids, until we have all the kids from year 1 to 15 (two years out of high school). By that stage there's 1500 kids," he said.

Mr Backhouse was currently in the process of recruiting navigators with the "four Cs" - character, chemistry, commitment and competence - who would each guide up to 80 pupils through their schooling.

Navigators were not there to replace parents, he said.

"It's a bit like an extension of the parent. Parents have great dreams for their children but don't necessarily have the right contacts and resources. The role of a navigator is to inspire and advocate."

He told the future "dreamer" students and their families, "This isn't a new waka ... It's when you are on your waka, and you encounter rough seas, this programme is like an outrigger."