Blue Light Programmes
This programme focuses on leadership training, practical skills, respect,
team work, self-confidence and leaderless tasks. After the conclusion of
the the camp the role of the referrer becomes critical. Together with Blue
Light the referrer works with the participant providing support linking
the young person into future opportunities.
Research shows that activity based education is an ideal vehicle to develop
young people. Taking them away from the distractions of everyday life has
proven to be extremely effective in teaching them ways to improve and manage
their lives moving forward.
The following outputs have been achieved at our Blue Light Life Skills and Leadership camps thanks to our partners, the New Zealand Defence Force, the Police, Capital Training, Blue Light staff and volunteers.
The PCT is an event run each year with teams of intermediate age students
participating in a variety of mental and physical challenges.
Each year branches throughout New Zealand run local competitions to select
their representatives to attend the National finals held at the Royal New
Zealand Police college where one team will win the coveted National PCT
Fear Factor Trophy and be crowned National Champions.
Teams are required to participate in a series of challenges including
the ‘police car push’ as well as complete the Police Competence Test (PCT)
– the obstacle course used in the entry exams for new police recruits.
Blue Light in partnership with TV fishing celebrity and Blue Light Patron
Graeme Sinclair, run a large number of ‘Kids Gone Fishin’ events around
the country each year. These events bring young people and their parents
together for quality time and enhance communication through the vehicle
of fishing.
These events also provide an opportunity for young people from disadvantaged
backgrounds to experience fishing as a recreational sport and build positive
police, youth and community relationships.
Events range in size from 50 to over 2,000 participants and family members.
Blue Light works in partnership with the Duke of Edinburgh Trust to deliver
the programme into disadvantaged communities, rural secondary schools and
in partnership with Refugee groups and the Police.
Blue Light have developed Whakapuawai, a marae based version of this programme
to meet the needs of Cultural Responsiveness within many of these communities.
The Duke of Edinburgh Hillary Award is provided in four parts with young
people doing physical activity, learning new skills, completing community
service and doing overnight expeditions through native forests.
Many young people with the help of Blue Light have progressed through
all levels of the Duke of Edinburgh Hillary Award from Bronze to Gold.
Each year Blue Light staff from around the country bring young people
from their communities to New Zealand’s premier tourist attraction ‘Rainbows
End’ for two days of action packed entertainment.
Since the first event in the mid 90’s over 150,000 young people have had
the opportunity to experience Rainbows End with Police and Blue Light Staff.
Through community sponsorship Blue Light is able to offer this opportunity
to young people from disadvantaged communities who otherwise could not
afford such an experience.
Blue Light is working in conjunction with Worksafe New Zealand delivering a Farm Safety activity programme to rural and semi rural primary school students throughout New Zealand. The highly engaging programme was developed and designed by Blue Light for Year 3 to 6 students to improve attitudes to farm safety through engagement and participation in the programme both within the students school environment as well as working with their parents at home. With the further support of ACC in partnership with Worksafe the delivery of the programme will increase by over 200% in future years.
Blue Light’s own children’s TV show 'Bryan & Bobby'. Over the years
Bryan & Bobby have visited thousands of schools throughout New Zealand.
Their messages cover a range of topics designed to get kids interested
in crime prevention, road safety and social awareness. The programme provides
the perfect introduction to further police and safety related education.
Three series of this show were produced and are available as ‘Educational
Kits’ including DVD’s of all programmes, a CD Rom and workbooks and have
been distributed to over 2,500 primary schools around New Zealand. This
is now also available as an Activity book.
Blue EDGE (
Educate
Develop
Grow
Empower) – An ‘in school’ programme of activity based experiential
learning for young people between the ages of 14 and 18. Usually in groups
of up to 20 for around 8-10 weeks with two to three sessions per week.
The programme consists of; early morning tailored fitness programme, the
provision of mentors and role models, communal breakfast, guest speakers
throughout the programme around motivation and career choice, a final event
– ‘The Longest Day’ – a 12 hour period of various challenges, culminating
in an awards ceremony and presentation. A key aspect of the programme is
the involvement of the local Blue Light Police Officers.
The programme is aimed to; help young people build self-esteem and confidence
through an activity based programme, provide advice and motivation, help
develop long term goals, build positive relationships between young people
and the NZ Police, help young people through challenge onto the road to
success.
Blue Light has produced and distributed through schools and The Warehouse
a number of informative resource guides for young people and their parents.
These include; The 'Parentsmart Handbook' and 'Street Smart' designed to
help parents with teenagers by giving their parents access to up to date
information. It's a great ‘go to guide' for parents needing a trusted resource/directory
to find help with a whole range of issues facing our young people today.
The Kidsmart 'Guide To Life' is a handbook written specifically for year
nine students and provides information and contacts for further help on
a huge range of topics which may be of concern to young teens.
The 'Streetsmart Guide' is produced along the lines of our Kidsmart guide,
but tailored toward Year 13 students about to leave home and school. Similar
to Kidsmart but also includes information about budgeting, moving out,
tenancy agreements, opening bank accounts and other things previously done
by parents and caregivers.
The Blue Light Youth Driver Navigator programme is designed to help support
young people to ultimately get their full drivers licence. It is especially
designed for those young people who may not have access to the right support
to be able to learn to drive, e.g. a vehicle or someone to teach them to
drive.
The programme coordinator will manage the learner drivers through the
three components of the driver licensing system of ; Learners, Restricted
and Full Licences. Each learner driver is matched with a volunteer driver
navigator who is trained and supported by the programme coordinator and
a professional driving instructor. The driver navigators supervise the
learner drivers practice driving in a vehicle provided by the programme.
Licencing and course costs are met by the programme where the student does
not have the means to do so.
The programme is currently being piloted throughout the Bay of Plenty
with plans to roll out Nationwide from 2019.
Each year Blue Light, thanks to sponsorship from AA Insurance, gives students
the chance to win cash for their school by producing a TV advertisement/Social
Media Clip. The theme of this competition varies from year to year but
is always based on addressing a current issue to our young people. Past
themes have included Drink Driving and Anti Bullying.
The competition is based around peer education and action based learning.
Due to the competition including drama and film as well as covering health
and safety messages the competition fits into a number of key curriculum
areas such as English, Drama, Film Studies and Health & Social Sciences.
Supervision with Activity is a programme which offers a wide range of options in responding to Young People who have committed serious offences. The Programmes is an alternative to custody and it is the highest non-custodial sentence available in the Youth Court. Supervision with Activity Programmes can address addiction, anger management, self-esteem and family support issues to decrease the likelihood or reoffending.
BLAST (
Blue
Light
Alternative
Strategy for
Teenagers) activities and workshop are largely focused on building
trust and problem-solving skills in young people. The objectives of these
activities are to provide support and help young people to learn the skills
that will help them to succeed in their endeavours. Some of the key skills
student learn through these are activities are; Learning about working
with others in a team to achieve a goal;
Building their trust levels with others;
Learning strategies for problem-solving;
Having the experience of being trustworthy; Learning the importance of
asking for support when required, plus many more – all delivered in a fun
activity based workshop.
