Pegasus Post: April 29, 2021

4 Thursday April 29 2021
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
PEGASUS POST
Educating teen parents both a reward
• By Bea Gooding
NO MATTER what life throws
at the teenage mothers of
Kimihia Parents’ College, they
know their little family’s future
is in safe hands.
That’s where Diane Atkins
and her team come in, to ensure
young mothers can see the light
at the end of the tunnel while
juggling the responsibility of
pregnancy, raising a baby and
finishing secondary school.
The head teacher embraces the
challenge because, at the end of
the day, there was always a positive
outcome – something she
made sure to emphasise within
the classroom.
“I’m juggling a lot of balls, but
as long as I catch those balls,
I’m okay. What I’ve learned is
that there’s always a positive
outcome,” said Atkins.
Working with the girls from
when they came in, to the end,
was a “big long journey.” Many
were kicked out of school or had
to leave because they no longer
related to their peers.
“They’ve been bullied at
school, so a lot of them come in
suspicious of another school, but
once they settle in, they make
lifelong friends and lifelong steps
to success.”
Atkins teaches business applications,
digital technology and
runs the parents’ school, having
done so for the past six years.
Until she went to Canterbury
University to study teaching and
computing, the thought of teaching
never crossed her mind.
She did not have to move very
far from her old job to the role at
Kimihia, where she previously
taught at Linwood College for 16
years.
Kimihia is hosted by Linwood
College but operates from a different
site, as all teen parent units
across the country are hosted by
a high school.
It is a chance for 14 to 19-yearolds
who are parents, or about
to have a child, to finish NCEA
level 1, 2 and 3 and develop the
best possible pathway for them,
and their children’s future.
Students could also bring their
babies to school as there was a
childcare unit next door.
SAFE:
Kimihia
Parents’
College
head
teacher
Diane Atkins
and her
dog, Honey,
who has
been at the
school as
long as she
has.
PHOTO:
GEOFF
SLOAN
Strong empathy for the mothers
and having the means to help
them was the key behind the
switch from mainstream classes
to a more specialised school,
designed for up to 30 students at
a time.
Not only did she have the skill
of teaching under her belt from
Linwood, being a mother of two
sons herself brought invaluable
experience to the position.
“I saw it as a change, a different
direction for myself and a challenge,”
said Atkins.
“I didn’t know what it would
be like because I loved what I
was doing at Linwood.”
Each day was a reward in itself
because Atkins was able to witness
the progress of both mother
and child every year.
By the time they left school,
her aim was for everyone to
have confidence in themselves
to move further in life, whether
it was to go to university, getting
a job or even having more
children.
“The best time is at the celebrations
because we have the
whānau in; we see [the girls] at
their best,” she said.
“They’ve achieved level 1, 2
and 3, had their babies and are
doing well, and they’re going
off to a future that’s better than
where they were when they came
in – that’s where my passion
lies.”
Having smaller class sizes
meant teachers could have a
better understanding of each student
and the troubles they faced
outside the classroom.
At Linwood, there were
usually 25 to 30 students per
class, which made it difficult to
see what was happening behind
the scenes.
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