CE of Te Pūkenga, Stephen Town, recently sent the first of his fortnightly updates.
Keep an eye out for future notices – we’ll share Stephen’s updates as they are distributed.
Kia ora koutou
In just a few short days we will turn the calendar over and it will be 1 April. This marks one year since NZ Institute of Skills and Technology, as it was known at the time, was formally established. This happened during the time when New Zealand was operating under the Alert Level 4 guidelines in response to COVID-19. It’s fair to say this milestone probably wasn’t a central focus for many people as a result.
I’m incredibly proud of just how much activity has happened in the last 12 months. Among other work we have confirmed the name and identity of the organisation, put some foundational building blocks in place with key roles and ways of working and launched a series of workstreams that form our Transformation Programme. This represents a significant volume of work that has been progressed by individuals who are based across the country, and the network, and we’re only at the beginning.
It is important to acknowledge that our work to establish Te Pūkenga, and look to the future, is not being done in isolation. We have established strong connections with the Tertiary Education Commission and with the Reform of Vocational Education (RoVE) team. This is important and the work we are progressing all needs to remain aligned with this wider activity and in the direction which is indicated by the legislation.
Thank you all for the continued mahi that you are doing as we work together to look to the future of vocational education in Aotearoa.
Stephen Town – Te Pūkenga Chief Executive
Kia ora koutou
Kāore e roa ka taka mai marama o Aperira, o Paenga-whāwhā rānei. Mā tērā e tohu i te huringa o te tau tuatahi mai i te whakatūhanga ōkawanga o te NZ Institute of Skills and Technology, i huaina pērātia i taua wā. I taua wā e noho ana a Aotearoa i raro i ngā here o te urutā COVID-19, arā, o Kia Mataara Taumata 4. I te mutunga atu, kāore pea i tino arohia tēnei tohu nui e te nuinga o ngā tāngata.
E poho kererū ana ahau i te nui o ngā mahi kua oti i ngā marama tekau mā rua ka hori. Heoi, ko ētahi o ngā mahi kua oti, ko te whakatau i te ingoa tūturu me ngā tohu o te whakahaere nei, te whakatū i ētahi pou me ngā kawenga matua, ngā tikanga mahi me te whakarewa hoki i ngā wāhanga matua, arā, ngā aramahi o tā mātou Kaupapa Whakaumutanga. Koinei ngā mahi nunui i kawea e ngā tāngata takitini kei ngā tōpito o te motu, me te kōtuinga. Me kī rā, he tīmatanga noa iho tēnei.
He mea nui anō kia mōhio, ehara tēnei mahi hei whakatū i Te Pūkenga, me te tiro anamata, i te mahi taratahi. Kua mārō te taura here i waenga i a mātou ko te Amorangi Mātauranga Matua (TEC) me te rōpū Whakahouanga i te Mātauranga Ahumahinga (RoVE). He take nui tēnei, ā, me hāngai tonu ngā mahi katoa kei te kawea e mātou ki ngā mahi whānui me te ahunga e tohua mai ana e te ture.
Tēnei te mihi nui ki a koutou katoa mō tō koutou kaha i ā tātou e mahitahi nei mō te āpōpō o te mātauranga ahumahinga i Aotearoa.
Stephen Town
Kaiwhakahaere Mātāmua
Te Pūkenga
Transformation Update
Latest news and updated from our Transformation Programme is shared on our website. Recent highlights include:
Operating Model: The project team were really pleased with the range of contributions that we received in the ‘Our Journey’ collaboration space during the recent consultation period. We will use the platform again for another two week period, from Wednesday 7 April for public feedback. In this round we will ask for feedback on the draft proposals for change which are being developed, using the research and feedback to date. We are looking for feedback from TITOs and subsidiary staff, learners, employers and anyone who has experience in the sector they would like to share.
We are also finalising the first in a video series to unpack the Operating model project and approach. The topic for this first video is to answer the question ‘What is the Operating Model?’ The video will be available from the news section on our website from next Monday, 29 March, so please take a moment to check it out next week.
Ākonga at the Centre: Many staff and learners from across the network supported the ākonga at the centre team with the research that was undertaken in the last quarter of 2020 – thank you to everyone who contributed to and supported this work. An impressive 75 sessions across the motu resulted in over 4,000 contributions, which ranged from full learner stories to individual thoughts. Significant work has been progressed to understand what these stories tell us and how they will ensure that we can better understand the learner experience as we design for the future. This work is being used as one of our sources to guide the operating model development.
Our Learner Journey and Experience team are currently connecting with learner leaders and national associations across the Te Pūkenga network to empower their collective learner voice and to share some of the insights and opportunities that have come from this research. They are also connecting with leadership teams to present this work and there will be more to share with the network shortly using the learner experience insights.
TITO Transition and Work-based Learning workstream: Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins, has approved the establishment of a work-based learning subsidiary. This is a necessary step which Te Pūkenga needs to put in place as part of the legal arrangements to transition those TITOs who have indicated they would like to transition to become part of Te Pūkenga. Work to establish this subsidiary is already underway. Four TITOs have signed Letters of Intent to transition some of the arranging of work-based training functions to Te Pūkenga before the end of 2021. That includes Competenz, Connexis, BCITO and most recently MITO and we’re already working closely with these organisations