Training for Good - May 2024: Manaaki fund, study sessions, learner support and more

Fresh new look for Careerforce
Careerforce Manaaki Fund to help support learner success
When you started your training programme, how well did we do? Be in to win 1 of 3 grocery vouchers
Graduation lifts morale, confidence and pride for Pacific learners
Recognising our youth workers, youth service providers and others
Consequences of academic dishonesty
Free study sessions to help you progress your learning
Need support with your training?
Completing your training programme and receiving your qualification
Free counselling for all Careerforce learners
New accessibility tool on e-learning platform a success
Closure of Health and Wellbeing (Level 3) version 1 programmes
Where to from here? Is an apprenticeship the next step for you?

Your wellbeing is important to us.

Here's a reminder about the Careerforce Manaaki Fund designed to provide temporary financial assistance to learners facing unexpected hardship that is impacting upon their studies.

Applications for round 2 of the Manaaki Fund are open now, and close 15 May 2024
Applicants will be notified by 31 May 2024
Dates are subject to change.

Successful applicants will receive a one-off payment of $400 to help with alleviating financial barriers. To apply for the funding, you need to complete the application form here.

To be eligible, you must be enrolled in a Careerforce programme and meet all the relevant criteria. For more information, please refer to our FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions).

You will be notified of the outcome of your application within two weeks of the fund closing date. Recipients of the Manaaki fund will be asked to provide feedback to Careerforce to enable us to measure the impact of this funding.

Please note that online applications only are accepted. If you require any assistance to complete the application, we are happy to help. Please contact us at Manaaki.Fund@careerforce.org.nz or on 0800 277 486 (and ask for the Manaaki Fund Team).

When you began your studies with Careerforce, what did we do well, and what could we have done better? What did you find hard or perhaps not understand? We're keen to find out what improvements we can make to help new learners as they begin their training journey with us.

We're giving away three $50 grocery vouchers. Simply complete the quick survey to help us improve our learner onboarding. Complete the survey by 24 May 2024 and go into the draw to win 1 of 3 grocery vouchers.

Follow the link to enter the quick survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/T4GMay2024

Pacific graduates recently danced the night away at a colourful celebration of success. Fifty-four Careerforce Pacific learners were filled with pride as they graduated with their NZQA recognised qualifications at Manukau’s MIT Theatre.

Graduates from the Northern region had completed a range of Health and Wellbeing programmes from Level 2 certificates to Level 5 diplomas, some graduating with multiple qualifications.

The ‘Pacific Celebration of Success’ was designed to recognise these graduate achievements, amongst proud family members, employers and work colleagues.

Careerforce Pacific Lead, Laloifi Ripley, says, “The atmosphere in the auditorium was electric. This is something I have visualised for a while, and it was great to see it come to life. For a lot of our Pacific people, they work in these roles to support their families, to put food on the table and to provide. Often the thought of gaining a qualification never crosses their mind.

We’re seeing more and more instances of academic dishonesty in learner’s assessments, and it appears that a small minority of our learners don’t think the rules apply to them. These learners may have presented evidence gathered from another learner’s previously submitted work or from online resources - including generative AI, or from other sources.

Careerforce takes academic dishonesty seriously. We have an important role in ensuring the integrity of our programmes and qualifications. Equally, your employer needs to know that you are skilled and competent to do your job, and your clients need to know they are being properly looked after.

When examples of academic dishonesty have been detected, there are consequences. In some cases we have had to remove unit standards from a learner’s NZQA record of achievement and the learner is required to re-submit new assessment evidence for their assessments for marking. If a qualification has been awarded and unit standards are removed from the NZQA record of achievement, the qualification will also be removed. If continued academic dishonesty is detected, the learner’s training agreement may be terminated. All of these consequences can have impacts on the relationship between the learner and the employer.

All assessment work completed must be your own and must be produced without assistance from other trainees or other sources. You may find the following resource helpful: Your original words. Where you have used the ideas of other authors, you need to acknowledge all the sources. Learners are reminded that their training agreement requires compliance with The Educational Regulatory Framework of Te Pūkenga: Te Kawa Maiorooro.

Remember, there are lots of supports available. If you are struggling with any of your assessments, or with literacy, please talk to your manager or assessor. You can also attend one of our free study workshops across the country, or contact us at Careerforce.

Please know that we are here to help you become skilled, competent and to succeed!

Would you like some extra support with your training programme? Our Achieve Study Hubs are face-to-face sessions where you can drop in, ask questions, meet with other learners, and receive help with your learning.

Our Achieve Study Hubs are scheduled across the country. Learners are also welcome to attend sessions outside your area. See the full schedule on our website.

Study support options for Māori and Pasifika
If you identify as either Māori or Pasifika, we also have study support resources and face-to-face study options available including wānanga, noho marae and talanoa events. See our Māori support page and our Pasifika support page.

You can RSVP by completing the online form on our website.

It's really important to keep progressing with your training. If you don't continually submit assessments for marking, you may be withdrawn from your programme.

Each programme has an expected duration, which is a guide to help you plan your training journey. Your training schedule shows you what unit standards you are enrolled in, so use that to help plan a target completion date for each unit.

You can check your progress at any time via iportal, where you can view and download your training schedule report (which summarises your progress). You'll be able to see which credits you’ve completed and which you are yet to complete.

As a learner, it's an exciting feeling knowing you are close to, or have completed all the work to achieve your qualification.

Here are the steps in the process towards receiving your certificate and being rewarded for all your hard work!

Your assessor must report your completed assessment(s) to Careerforce.
Careerforce will submit these to NZQA for credit registration (this is completed weekly, each Monday).
NZQA will verify and award the qualification on your 'Record of Achievement'.
Your certificate is issued and dispatched to your workplace.

Please note this process can take up to 10 working days to be completed.

For learners using paper based assessments, please keep copies of your completed work for your own record keeping.

As part of this ongoing work, we introduced the UserWay Accessibility widget on Aka Toi. The widget has a range of tools to help better support users with digital accessibility needs, including easily increasing font sizes, activating dyslexia friendly fonts, adding contrast to the page and more.

Not everyone thinks of themselves as having a disability, but everyone appreciates being able to customize a site’s font size and pause animations if they are distracting. Putting users in control of how they interact with a website increases the amount of time they spend there.

Following the extension of the Last Date of Assessment (LDA) for the Health and Wellbeing Level 3 version 1 qualification, Careerforce will be accepting assessments from learners up until 31 May 2024 for the following programmes:

Health Assistance (version 1)
Support Work (version 1)
Orderly Services (version 1)
Newborn Hearing Screening (version 1)
Dental Assistance (version 1)

After 31 May 2024, any learners who have not completed all of the required unit standards for their qualification will be transferred to the version 2 programmes starting July.

If you have any queries about the closure of version 1 programmes, or transferring to version 2 programmes, please contact your assessor and/or your employer. Your Careerforce Workplace Advisor will also be able to provide guidance.

Keep up-to-date, and read more inspirational stories about your fellow Careerforce trainees, follow or like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/careerforceNZ/

If you’re having some challenges with your training, ask your assessor or employer for some advice. If you think Careerforce can help, do get in touch with us.
Careerforce.org.nz/contact-us/

Has anything changed? It's important that we hold up to date contact information in order for us to connect and provide updates on your training progress. If you have recently changed home address, contact number or email address, then please let us know by sending an email to info@careerforce.org.nz

Are you leaving your employment or wish to withdraw from your training? Please let us know by completing the “Training Agreement Termination” online submission form which can be found on the Careerforce website here

Tip: We suggest you check that all completed work has been assessed and reported by your assessor before requesting your training to be withdrawn. You can do this through iportal if you are a registered user or contact us on 0800 277 486.