At the end of November, Real staff from around the country came together for a two-day national hui in South Auckland. The hui was an opportunity for staff to connect, kōrero and learn together, as well as to share experiences and ideas.
The last national Real hui was in 2017 and it was exciting to see twice as many Real staff attending this year’s hui, showing the significant growth we have made in working with young people over the last few years.
Kaihautū Anaru Hawkins and the Northern region’s takiwa formally welcomed everyone to the whare, and local kaitiaki Dan Crozier challenged everyone to be brave in their spirit, their thinking and in sharing their thoughts and experiences.
John Zonnevylle, child and youth director, and Sally Pitts-Brown, chief executive, set the focus and vision for the hui – putting the voice of our taiohi (young people) and their whānau front and centre in everything we do.
A big part of day one was devoted to learning, with Werry Workforce Whāraurau delivering an interactive workshop around single session family consultation.
Day two saw the group getting invigorated with some early morning wellbeing activities. This was followed by a fantastic Mauria te taki session, where the team discussed and made commitments around Real’s Te Ao Māori journey moving forward.
Tabby and Petazae from InsideOUT then held a session to support the Real teams around working with rainbow youth. Our last session was from Werry Workforce’s Whāraurau Youth Consumer advisor team on youth-led transformation.
Finally it was a poroporoake and karakia to close an inspirational, enlightening and energising two days.
The Real whānau enjoyed two days of learning and connecting at the 2019 Real Hui in November