Trust reaches out to families of struggling students

Michael Jones chats with John Key. Photo / Natalie Slade

A youth mentoring programme started by former All Black Michael Jones has inspired a new body to help young people from struggling families in West Auckland.

The Kahukura Trust, led by Waitakere "living treasure" Bev Harris, is seeking funding to provide mentors initially for 12 students at Henderson's Bruce McLaren Intermediate School and their families.

It aims to expand to all intermediate schools across West Auckland, feeding young people on to Mr Jones's New Lynn-based Village Trust, which already mentors 250 Pasifika students in years 11 to 13 at nine high schools from Onehunga to Massey.

Mr Jones also sees his trust as a template for other communities wanting to reach young people who might otherwise drop out of education.

"We believe that it takes a village to raise a child," he told Prime Minister John Key, three other ministers, community leaders and 120 trainees at the unveiling of this year's programme for the Village Trust's sports academy yesterday.

Te Wananga o Aotearoa Auckland manager Yvonne O'Brien said nothing short of a quiet revolution was required to lift Pacific and Maori achievement, with half of all Pasifika males in Waitakere currently leaving school with no formal qualifications.

Mrs Harris said her new trust aimed to help young people and their families before they became alienated from school.

If funding can be found, the school will identify year 7 children who are "underachieving and experiencing difficulties at home".

A trust mentor will then visit each child's family and offer help to deal with whatever issues are causing the problems at school.

Bruce McLaren Intermediate principal David Crickmer said: "Children will only progress if the family is fully functioning and home and school are working together."

Te Kahukura Trust, (09) 838-9516.

INSPIRATION WORKS WONDERS

All Black legend Michael Jones hasn't just set young namesake Kingston Vagana-Jones on the path to a potential sporting career. He has also inspired him to stop drinking.

Vagana-Jones, 18, had a mixed record at Mt Albert Grammar. He was mad on sports, but "not so much at school".

"I was like, my way or no way. If I had a rugby game or league training, I wouldn't go to school," he says. "I used to go out and drink with my mates - just stupid drunken stuff."

He was brought up by his Maori-European mother and has no contact with his Samoan father.

When he left school he went to Brisbane, where an uncle is involved in league. He played for one of the feeder clubs for the Brisbane Broncos for the first half of last year. He came home to West Auckland after six months because of family. He also wanted to play league for New Zealand. He was one of 45 trainees in the first level 2 intake at Jones' Village Sports Academy in August and is one of 30 who have come back to do level 4.

"When I came here with Michael Jones it just changed my life," he says. "I gave up drinking - just on special occasions now - because I felt that it was drinking that was holding me back from being successful."

He says Jones and tutor Tony Lafotanoa, a former head trainer for Manu Samoa and Fiji, taught him that to be successful he had to cut some things out of his life. "That really hit me, so I cut that stuff [drinking] and just focused on my training."