Skills for Good - July 2024: Gateway success, Careerforce difference, support to help with the costs of training and more

If you have been following the news lately, you may have heard of Te Pūkenga appointing external consultants to undertake an intensive exercise focused on how to ensure financial sustainability across former Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs). This work does not encompass work-based learning divisions (such as Careerforce), as they do not face the financial challenges that our ITP peers have, and continue to face. This exercise will support the impending Cabinet announcements on what structures will replace Te Pūkenga and which we expect to be released either later this month, or early next month. Regardless of the outcome, and has been the case through the five years of the Reform of Vocational Education (RoVE) to date, our absolute focus will remain on uninterrupted service for you, our employers, together with our shared learners via our tripartite model.

The next few months are shaping up to be a busy events season for Careerforce, with a number of our sectors holding events and conferences across the motu, including aged care, general practice, home & community, social services, and cleaning. If you are attending any of these events, please do pop by and say hello. We’d love to have a chat to better understand your needs and how we can support you.

In this issue, we’re sharing a summary of The Careerforce Difference, as we have been building up in previous issues of Skills for Good. Later this year, we celebrate our 30th anniversary, and the fact that we have remained focused on work-based training across the health and wellbeing sectors throughout this period is key to what we believe sets us apart from other workforce development options. We acknowledge that you have choice in how to upskill your workforce, but we stand proud behind the service offering we have evolved over the last 30 years, and of our Careerforce Difference.

Finally, check out the story of our very own Kailash Devan, one of our Auckland based Apprenticeship Advisors. Kailash is passionate about supporting learners across the mental health and peer support sectors, and this has been recognised with his ACE Educator of the Year Award.

Ngā mihi nui

Rod Bentham
Executive Director, Careerforce

MidCentral Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora runs a Gateway programme for Palmerston North students who are thinking about careers in health.
Now in its fifth year at MidCentral, the Careerforce supported Gateway programme recently held its orientation day for a record 62 students.

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora offers 14-week placements to high school students, giving them a taste of what a future career in health might look like.

Associate Director Allied Health at MidCentral, Mandy Smith, is a passionate advocate for Careerforce’s Gateway programmes and manages their Palmerston North placements.

“The Gateway programme gives them a really good head start,” says Mandy.
“It’s amazing! They come in nervous and intimidated by the environment.

“They don’t have any health knowledge, generally, and by the time they leave, they are much more comfortable in the space.

“They gain credits towards their NZQA qualifications, as well as the skills, work experience and confidence.

“As an organisation, we benefit in so many ways. We are encouraging students to get involved in health. People know there are doctors and nurses, but they often don’t know about support services such as orderlies, and allied health, scientific and technical professionals, physios etc. We need to engage with them and show them what we do, so that more people will come into our health career pathways.

Become a Gateway Employer
Do you want to help young people into a career in one of the health and wellbeing or social and community sectors? There are many benefits to opening your door as a Careerforce Gateway employer.

Gateway is a work placement initiative for senior school students (Years 11 to 13) funded by the Tertiary Education Commission. Students' learning is observed in the workplace and assessed by Careerforce assessors. Students can achieve credits on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF) towards their National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA).

As a Gateway employer, you’ll be a key part of introducing students to a variety of career options and provide them with an opportunity to access workplace learning.

>>Learn more about becoming a Gateway employer

Over several previous issues of Skills for Good, we expanded on 15 elements that you have told us make up The Careerforce Difference.

Over the last 30 years, we have worked with thousands of employers, many across this entire duration. We have also partnered with these employers via our tri-partite training agreements to support tens of thousands of kaimahi into life changing qualification pathways that both support their career progression, and improved life outcomes for themselves and their whānau.

Over these 30 years, we have had various trading names and a few mergers along the way. However, one thing has stayed true throughout – our absolute focus on developing the care and support workforce through work-based training.

We know that we’re not the only game in town, and that as employers, you have choice. We never take your support for granted, and we are continuously trying to listen and improve – this is evidenced in our employer satisfaction results which have consistently improved over the last 7 years.

We have now collated these 15 elements into what we are calling The Careerforce Difference. We encourage you to have a read, and consider what is important for your organisation as you make your workforce development decisions. For example;

How important is local support to you, with local feet on the ground?
Do you want your staff to learn practical on-the-job skills, with up-to-date assessments and learning resources based on real workplace needs?
How important is it to have training provider staff who live and breathe health and wellbeing, and who intimately understand your needs and challenges?
Do you want training solutions that can support the individual learning needs of your staff, and with flexible training options?
Do you want your staff to earn nationally recognised qualifications with high integrity, and where you can have the confidence that the learners are truly demonstrating the competencies required for both the qualification, and your workplace?

We are pleased to offer free enrolment into the Apprenticeship in Primary Care Practice Assistance Programme valued at $2,000 inc gst from 1 August 2024 to 31 October 2024.

The Primary Care Practice Assistance apprenticeship is a 20-month work-based programme designed to support the apprentice to develop the skills, knowledge and behaviours required to contribute to the effective operation of a primary care practice.

Free enrolments will not be offered if the applicant is already funded by other agencies or is in receipt of grants from any other organisation, for the activity the application relates to.

To support the growth and development of peer support workers, we are excited to offer two new grants funded by Health NZ Te Whatu Ora:

1. The Peer Support MHA Grant (valued at $2,000 Inc GST) covers the enrolment fees for the NZ Apprenticeship in Health and Wellbeing Peer Support (Level 4) programme >>More

2. The Peer Support SCP Grant (valued at $700 Inc GST) covers the enrolment fees for the SCP (Supplementary Credit Programme) - Supporting a Person’s Mental Health and Addiction Wellbeing (Level 4) programme >>More

The grants will be available from 29 July 2024 until 30 June 2026 (subject to continued funds being available).

Do your learners need some extra support with their training programmes? Our Achieve Study Hubs are face-to-face sessions where they can drop in, ask questions, meet with other learners, and receive help with their learning.

Our Achieve Study Hubs are scheduled across the country. Learners are also welcome to attend sessions outside their area. See the full schedule on our website. We have contacted learners about these sessions and they can RSVP by completing the online form on our website.

Please encourage your staff to attend these Study Hubs. We know that learners who have attended these events have found them very beneficial.

Apprenticeship Advisor Kailash Devan has won the ACE Aotearoa Educator of the Year Tangata Tiriti 2024 award, at the recent ACE Aotearoa Awards at Te Papa Wellington.

These awards recognise and celebrate excellence in teaching, programme innovation, sector service and leadership, with recipients demonstrating best practice and a thorough understanding of Adult and Community Education (ACE) Teaching Standards.

For the past seven years, and in his role as a Careerforce Apprenticeship Advisor, Kailash has been supporting workplaces across Auckland, empowering them to upskill their staff to get qualified. He supports apprentices working towards Level 4 health and wellbeing qualifications in mental health, peer support, diversional therapy and youth work.

“Looking after the mental health and peer support workers and LGBTQI+ community health providers has always been my passion,” says Kailash.

The following comments from organisations that Kailash works alongside were read out at the ceremony and underpin his success in the 2024 awards.

“His career success is marked by the fact that he has managed and mentored the highest number of Pacific graduates in South Auckland that have completed their New Zealand Certificate in Health and Wellbeing.

“Kailash demonstrates whanaungatanga through his connection with workplaces, while simultaneously valuing his relationship with providers.

Earlier this year we launched the Careerforce Manaaki Fund to provide temporary financial assistance to learners facing unexpected hardship that is impacting upon their studies.

There have been 4 rounds to date with many learners receiving a one off payment of $400 to help with alleviating financial barriers. Round 4 has now closed and applicants will be notified on 5 August.

Round 5
Applications open:
5 August – 18 August 2024
Applicants notified:
2 September 2024
(Dates are subject to change)

Careerforce learners going through a tough time can also access a free counselling service, available from the professional employee assistance provider Vitae.

Learners can call to discuss any problems that they might be experiencing, such as study or training stress, relationship problems, anxiety or depression, as well as reach out if they are experiencing harassment or any other kind of violence. The Vitae confidential counselling service is available 24/7.

In our previous issues of Skills for Good we have covered academic misconduct among learners.

Unfortunately, we’re seeing more and more instances of this issue in learner’s assessments. We have contacted all Careerforce learners to let them know what is and isn’t acceptable, and will continue to remind them. We have developed a summary web page and downloadable flyer for learners.

We are also developing tighter processes to handle this issue and will soon be able to share these with you, and provide tools and support to help assist you and your assessors.

Toitū te Waiora, the Workforce Development Council is undertaking a five-year review of the structure and content of the following qualifications:

Health and Wellbeing (Level 2)
Health and Wellbeing (Level 3) with strands in Health Assistance, Support Work, Orderly Services, Newborn Hearing Screening, Vision Hearing Screening

Toitū te Waiora is proposing to make changes to the structure of these qualifications and strands and their decisions may have a direct impact on the training you provide for your workplace.

You have an opportunity to have a say in this review. The consultation form asks if you agree with the proposed changes and to consider if there are areas of knowledge that are missing from the proposals (e.g. which conditions are the most common in your sector but are not identified?)
We encourage you to find out more about the changes and provide your feedback.

Details of the proposed changes can be found here on the Toitū te Waiora website

We are required to report to NZQA to ensure our programmes are consistent with the requirements of the qualification. This consistency review process will continue over the coming months, as we work our way through various programmes.

Thank you to those who have already provided feedback. This is so valuable in
helping us improve our training programmes and ensure they remain relevant to your workplace needs. We'll be in contact with more employers over the next few months and encourage you to give us your feedback if you can.