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Kaed Lucre-Scott from Spotswood College pictured here is hard at work as one of the team at Downer, gaining real-world experience and insight the sector. “It is fantastic to see students gaining experiences like this, we are so grateful to companies like Downer that are investing in the future of young people in this way” says Taranaki Futures General Manager Belinda Mooney.

Kaed signed up for the Taranaki Futures Infrastructure Gateway programme via Spotswood College. Delivered in partnership with the NPDC led Infrastructure Talent Pipeline, Kade is one of a number of students spending time with infrastructure businesses over the coming weeks as part of the Taranaki Futures brokered programme. During their time students will complete some Connexis NZQA units, spend time gaining real-world experience and have completed a one-day NPDC Traffic Management course.

Kia mihi Downer mo to atawhai.

One year ago Spotswood College student Joshua Hart started his journey to get his restricted licence. Today, he has got it – and can now access all the benefits that come with it. A known prerequisite for many employers is a licence, which is why Taranaki Futures (a charity with a purpose to enable prosperous youth education to employment pathways) is involved in this programme.

Taranaki Futures General Manager Belinda Mooney says “Joshua is our first mentor student to get his restricted licence, it is a milestone day and we are celebrating!”. Joshua learned to drive in the Taranaki Futures car with volunteer mentor Lisa Macnee (also a board member of the organisation). Each Sunday since term four last year the two could be found driving the streets of New Plymouth practicing the skills needed for driving success. “I wanted to help our youth in a hands-on way, and the experience has been incredibly rewarding” says mentor Lisa.

The Taranaki Futures Driver Licence programme is funded by NPDC to help 50 students to gain their restricted drivers licence. It commenced in the July school holidays last year with an intensive road code training week to support students to pass the learner licence test. Today, students are approaching the final stages of the programme with the restricted test. So far 10% of students have achieved the goal of a restricted licence the rest are on track for completion by the end of October.

The team at CityCare welcomed Stratford High School student Kala Fakavamoeanga onto site as part of the Taranaki Futures and NPDC Infrastructure Talent Pipeline partnered programme aimed at developing a youth sector pathway.

Pictured left to right is Dave Evans (CityCare Water Site Manager, Stratford), Tony Ewens (Branch Manager, New Plymouth), Kala Fakavamoeanga (Student, Stratford High School) and Brett Castle (CityCare Stratford).

It is fantastic to see the CityCare team putting in place this dedicated induction hui for their student, and the approach they have taken to appoint a student mentor. Brett from the Stratford City Care team will be Kala’s go-to and support on site over the coming weeks. Research shows providing additional support for youth as they transition into the workplace helps to smooth the experience.

Kala is one of a number of students spending time with infrastructure businesses over the coming weeks as part of the Taranaki Futures brokered programme. During their time students will complete some Connexis NZQA units, spend time gaining real-world experience and attend a one-day NPDC Traffic Management course.

Ngā mihi ki a CityCare tīma

Build a Trailer students are working hard on campus at WITT to make up lost time on the 2020 trailer build.

Students are on site two days per week, rather than the planned one day, due to the impact of Covid-19. This has enabled the team to catch up on the lost time building the trailer during lockdown. Well done team, it is looking great!

The Build a Trailer programme is an innovative collaborative between Taranaki Futures, WITT and Engineering Taranaki Consortium. It is designed for year 11-13 secondary school students interested in pursuing an engineering pathway. Modeled off the successful ‘build a bach’ project launched in 2014, the students on the programme get the best of tutor learning and industry experience. This year there are 14 students on the programme.

Now that we are back in level one mode, it is great to see students out in the workplace. Pictured here is Toby Burnard of Waitara High School having his first meet at Fulton Hogan. Toby is part of the Taranaki Futures brokered gateway programme in partnership with the TP industry group and high schools across the region.

During this programme Toby will complete some Connexis NZQA units, spend time gaining real-world experience at Fulton Hogan and attend a one-day NPDC Traffic Management course.

Great work Toby – you are taking advantage of an amazing opportunity to pathway into the Infrastructure sector.

When Kylie Fowell accepted a Taranaki Futures Maori & Pasifika Trades Training (MPTT) scholarship for Health & Wellbeing, she had no idea just how needed those skills would be. Fast-forward a year and she is an essential worker at the Taranaki District Health Board, part of the healthcare workforce on the front-line to unite against Covid-19.

Kylie completed her studies at the Western Institute of Technology in Taranaki during 2019. As part of the Taranaki Futures MPTT scholarship, all course fees and related expenses were covered. “I was so stoked to receive the scholarship, it made returning to studies that much easier for our family” comments Kylie.

An important component of the scholarship includes an extra level of support from a Taranaki Futures Programme Co-ordinator.  “Melody was really helpful, arranging the ordering of things like my work experience uniform as well as a general sounding board along the way – it’s a valuable part of the scholarship” she said.

Kylie started at the Taranaki District Health Board during the Covid-19 Level 4 lock-down. “I’m loving my new role – and the chance to support the Taranaki community at a time where my skills are so needed”.

Nga mihi ki a koe, mo to mahi kaha. (Thank you for your hard work Kylie).

Ko te manu e kai ana te miro, nōna te ngāhere. Ko te manu e kai ana te mātauranga, nōna te ao. (The bird who eats from the miro tree, owns the forest, however the bird that consumes learning owns the world).

Taranaki Futures is working hard to deliver our programmes in alignment with Ministry of Health recommendations regarding the management of Coronavirus.  

Whilst the Accelerator programme falls under the 500 threshold for large gatherings, due to the high contact nature of business visits and term-long duration of the programme, the decision has been made to cancel this year’s programme. We are very disappointed to make this call, however believe it is the right one at this time.

This year we had over 40 businesses on board to mentor 95 students. Many of these businesses have implemented their own measures to limit the spread of Coronavirus, which includes new protocols around limiting external site visitors (such as students). We would like to take this opportunity to thank these businesses for their support, and endorse all protocols in place to reduce the spread of Coronavirus.

The status of other Taranaki Futures programmes are being reviewed daily alongside feedback from education partners, the business community and Ministry of Health.

Right now we have scholarships for Maori & Pasifika Trades Training to give away. This year we have partnered with Pacific International Hotel Management School to support a small number of students to achieve Level 3 foundation skills for the hospitality sector. This is an all-new programme, and is set to start in April this year (subject to student numbers). It covers a range of core skills needed to get your career started.

The visitor and tourism sector outlook is bright, with job growth forecast towards 2030. So if you are aged between 16-40 and are looking to make your start in the Hospitality Management sector apply online today or contact MPTT Coordinator Melody Te Patu to find our more.

Taranaki Futures and Learner Me have teamed up to give 16 Taranaki secondary school students the chance to get their start in the technology industry. Running one day per week during terms one to three, students on the programme will attend Learner Me where they will develop technology industry skills and gain real-world experience.

Backed by NPDC, students attending Tech Academy will build an innovate Taranaki Futures software service to showcase the size and breadth of different Taranaki employment pathways to their peers – a valuable source of information for all those seeking to make decisions about their future career pathways.

Taranaki Futures, a charitable organisation with a purpose to enable youth towards prosperous pathways, is excited to team up with Learner Me for this all-new programme. General Manager Belinda Mooney says “We are always looking for ways develop new pathways for Taranaki youth, and with the help of Learner Me students can get the skills they need to make a start in the technology industry right here in Taranaki”. As always, Taranaki Futures will be looking to keep the technology industry close to this activity as young people gain the skills needed to take their next step.

Set up as a real-world tech working environment, at Learner Me students will get a chance to try out different roles in the technology sector. The different roles covered on the programme will include software developer, user experience designer, graphic designer, business analyst, technology project manager and more. Learner Me is the private training arm of Taranaki’s biggest technology group of companies like Proformac Technologies, App HQ, Learn HQ.

Day one of the programme was this week, where students from across the region met for the first time. Caitlyn Scott from Opunake High said “it’s really cool to see how much coding goes into designing even a little thing” while Cody Campbell of Francis Douglas commented “the course is good for people not planning to go to university – this will help them get they experience they want without spending a lot of money and time”.  

The need for the programme is well known to Simon Singh, Learner Me CEO. “There are over 300 employees working as technology developers/programmes in the region, and the sector is forecast to grow 15% by 2030”. As an employer in the sector, Simon knows when advertising a technology role it is unusual to have a high number of local applicants – most are applying from other parts of NZ or the world. Learner Me was founded to help solve this very problem and open up the sector to anyone in Taranaki. 

To find out more about this programme check out Taranaki Futures Tech Academy.

When Savanah Hislop enrolled in the Taranaki Futures Accelerator programme in March 2019 she had no idea it would start of a series of events that would see her leave school before the year was out.

Accelerator is Taranaki Future’s 10-week mentoring programme that runs during term two each year. Designed to help improve the pathway between education and employment, Accelerator is all about giving young people a chance to experience what the world of work is really like. It is not so much about hands-on work experience, it is a unique opportunity to hear from leaders across Taranaki about their industry of work.

Savanah was excited to be placed with the team at Southern Cross Hospital. “I have an interest in health and it gave me the opportunity to learn from professionals within the industry”. After the 10 week mentoring programme ended Savanah knew nursing was the right path for her and took action – enrolling in the WITT nursing programme right way; “the experience really motivated be to become a nurse”.

Supported by Taranaki Futures and Southern Cross, Savanah gained an insight into the industry and world of work that enabled her to take her next step with confidence. She is now thriving in her WITT studies “my nursing is going incredibly, straight A’s and I’m so happy!!”.

So for anyone considering Accelerator this year Savanah says  “100% go and do it – it is the best decision I made in 2019”.

Find out more and apply today.