WAIRARAPA Youth Education, Training & Employment Partnership www.yete.nz

He Ara Angitu “A Pathway for All – All in a Pathway”

Term 3 2018 Issue 8

Words from the YETE Chair With our clocks having just gone forward, we know that Spring is here and that we are heading towards the tail of the year. As noted in the last newsletter there is always plenty happening on the YETE front. Our focus in YETE has always been to focus on ensuring that in our region there are appropriate pathways for every young person (He Ara Angitu) to help them to transition from the school environment through to a work ready environment, and to help those young people to be on one of those pathways.Our Annual Plan has focussed on this, supporting the development of multiple opportunities for our young people.

Our YETE Strategic Teams have worked well to implement this plan and develop lots of these opportunities, supported by the YETE staff. Of note in the last quarter have been the Whānau evening where opportunities were provided for families to understand the pathways that exist, and Future Me, an opportunity for Yr 12 and 13 students to understand the opportunities that exist in our region. Our thanks to all the people involved in making these important events happen.

As YETE has grown, we have needed to make some adjustments for 2019. These changes reflect the developments that have occurred and the need to continue to not just build opportunities, but to ensure that they are effective and that the opportunities that have been created are maintained. So 2019 will see the Project Lead role and the L2W Support role disestablished, and replaced with two roles; the Implementation Lead and the Relationships Lead. The Relationships Lead role will focus on the development of new opportunities, and the Implementation Lead role will focus on ensuring that these opportunities are working smoothly, and will include responsibility for supporting and growing the Youth Employability Programme (L2W).

An important part of the Relationships role, will be developing a Community of Learning for the Tertiary Education institutions that provide Youth Guarantee programmes (YG-COL). This will help prevent duplication, look for gaps and organise some shared marketing. There is more about this in the YG-COL piece in this newsletter (page 7).

The Youth Placement programme (page 4), in association with Work and Income and REAP Wairarapa has begun and already has two cohorts of students enrolled. Maria McKenzie as Project Manager for this is supported by Kylie Brady as the lead facilitator. We are delighted with the positivity coming from this programme.

I would also like to welcome Alan Lodge as the new leader of Strategic Team 6. Alan has been involved in YETE since early this year and has been an active member of ST3. Alan brings leadership and management skills to this role, and significant experience in supporting educational developments.You will find a short bio of Alan on page 7.

Lastly, I would like to introduce you all to our Acting Relationships Lead, Alexa Belavskis and our Acting Implementation Lead, Jack Sheppard. They have been employed as maternity leave cover for Josie Whaanga, who recently brought a little boy into the world. We thank Jack and Alexa for agreeing to provide this cover for us, and all wish Josie well with her first few months of being a mother and look forward to her return in late January.

Peter McNeurActing Chairperson

A B O V E : A l e x a Belavskis; Acting Relationships Lead

A B O V E : J a c k Sheppard; Acting I m p l e m e n t a t i o n

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Are you a Youth-Friendly Employer?

What makes an Employer Youth-Friendly?

• You have a history of, or are currently, employing at least one young person

• You provide mentorship and constructive support systems to young people

• You offer opportunities for youth to become more “employable” (e.g. business walkthrough, skills reviews & work experience)

• You recognise the needs, rights and views of all young people in the work of our businesses and organisations

• You see young people in the context of their families and whānau, and community

What are the benefits of YETE for Youth-Friendly Employers?

• Access to potentially enthusiastic young people wanting to work in your industry

• Connection with schools, educational and training organisations to ease the process of recruitment and employment

• Networking opportunities with other Youth-Friendly businesses and organisations

• Community recognition – Knowledge that you are doing something about this issue

• Promotion on the YETE website & social media

• Developing skills in mentoring and teaching young people work-readiness & employability skills

• Support through the Licence to Work programme (L2W)

Get involved by:

• Signing up to YETE as a Youth-Friendly business

• Attending Employer Workshops

• Part ic ipat ing in the Licence to Work programme

• Agreeing to be part of a Rangatahi to Mahi (R2M – Young person into work) partnership

• Participating in Quickfire Connection Events providing young people with much-needed practice in interview skills

Work Placement (Engagement Level 4)

% increase

Short term tasters 13 8.3%

Ongoing 12 -

Gateway/Dual Pathways/ 3+2 14 -R2M partnerships (embedding Licence to Work programme into work placement in collaboration with education providers)

18 -

Part-time work 12 -

Total Increase by 1.5%

Engagement Levels/opportunities

Engagement Level 2

% increase

Support/advice on CV writing 13 8.3%

Interview coaching/mock interviews 16 6.6%

Mentoring (around work skills) 17 6.3%

TOTAL Increase by 7%

Engagement Level 1

% increase

Host a business visit 20 5.3%

Provide a presentation to students 15 7.1%

Career progression discussion 23 4.5%

Business Induction 13 8.3%

TOTAL Increase by 6%

124 businesses YETE engaged (2.5% increase from July 2018) 32 businesses signed as Youth-Friendly Employers (10.3% increase)

241 employment engagement opportunities available (15.9% increase)

Business Engagement - as of September 2018

Engagement Level 3

% increase

Job Shadowing 11 -

Skills review/feedback sessions 12 9.1%

Formal workplace assessment 4 33.3%

Employer mentoring re Youth-Friendly practice 10 11.1%

Total Increase by 8.8%

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Our Youth-Friendly Employers

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The Youth Employability Programme (YEP) – Licence to Work (L2W)The Wairarapa continues to bustle with three secondary schools and one Tertiary Provider working hard to get their students completed for graduation at the end of November.

YETE Admin, Maria Hodges and YETE Licence to Work Support Louise Wensvoort recently attended a video link update with Comet Auckland and can now report that all areas of the TrackIt online app are up and running bar the Portfolio collection of evidence which won’t be ready till early 2019. With this year’s administration of assessments and collation of data proving to be a real challenge for many, the TrackIt app will make running the YEP programme much smoother. YETE would like to thank all the hard working administrators and facilitators who have kept going this year in spite of the extra workload as they see their young people building in confidence and getting ready to move on to the world of work.

New sites that have adopted the YEP programme in our region are increasing steadily. The Wairarapa Teen Parent Unit is developing a programme over two years and may have some graduates already this year.

YETE Chair Tom Hullena and the YETE team will be busy over the next few months talking to Educational Providers about how their current programmes may be enhanced by integrating the YEP - License To Work programme into them. This programme gives our young people employability skills and technical skills in their area of development.

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MSD/ YETE Licence to Work Programme

YETE is well into the year with successful outcomes arising from the new Work and Living Skills programme.

The programme is progressing and tracking along very well. The first group are now out on work experience placements and are really progressing in their ability to strengthen key employability skills. There has been really positive feedback from both the learners and the employers, with a couple of potential full time work outcomes being made available on completion of their work experience.

A second group of learners have just started who are on track to start their volunteer work and practice their identified skills in employability that they need to strengthen. Volunteer work gives a really safe environment for them to achieve this.

Once work experience starts there is a noticeable change in the learner as they recognise what they have achieved and the impact of being involved in a job they are interested in is very rewarding and engaging.

Work and Living Skills Programme student, Jamie Governor, on work experience. PHOTO/FILE

If you would like further information on the Youth Employability Programme (YEP) - Licence to Work (L2W) or would like your young one to get involved, please contact Louise Wensvoort on louise.wensvoort@yete.nz

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Rangatahi to Mahi (R2M) Partnerships Story by Erin Kavanagh-Hall

A “townie” teen is realising her ambitions of a dairy farming career thanks to a local youth employment scheme and a rural organisation dedicated to helping young people enter the workforce.

Once a week, Year 13 student Jo Stammers trades her Mākoura College uniform for a hi-viz jacket and gumboots – leaving the comfort of a warm classroom for a day of hunkering down freezing milking sheds, handling new-born lambs, and mending several kilometres of fencing.

Jo is in her second year of work experience at NEER Enterprises, a large-scale farming operation based in Carterton – and recently accepted a job offer from the company.

Her work experience placement was organised by the region’s Youth Education, Training and Employment Partnership (YETE), whose Youth Employability Programme (YEP) – Licence to Work (L2W) initiative was set up to prepare youth for the working world, providing secondary school students with mentorship and on-the-job training from local businesses.

L2W, launched in Wairarapa last year, was created in response to industry concern that young New Zealand workers lacked the transferable skills, such as problem solving, communication and resilience, most valued by employers.

As one of YETE’s partner organisations, Mākoura College has put several of its students forward for work experience with various companies.

But few youngsters have been put through their paces quite like Jo – for whom, a typical day on the farm at NEER Enterprises could bring anything from feeding lambs and weaning calves, to engineering maintenance work and building fences, or driving forklifts and bobcats.

Despite her urban Masterton upbringing, Jo is undeterred by the physical demands and sometimes harsh conditions of the farming world and was “thrilled” to receive a job offer.

“I’m glad all the hard work has paid off – it’s pretty cool,” she said.

“On the farm, you do whatever’s asked of you.

“Anything from milking cows, to cleaning out the pig pens, to removing branches from the side of the road to make things look tidier.

“I’m really excited to start work.”

“Jo has talked about going farming for years,” Mākoura careers advisor Therese King added.

“It’s always exciting when the kids land on their feet and end up in the fields they’re passionate about.

“When you’re happy in your job, you’re going places.”

King said Mākoura has been on board with L2W since it was first introduced, and has incorporated the programme into its curriculum.

Students enrolled in L2W learn about the seven key employability skills – communication, teamwork, self-management, willingness to learn, thinking skills, resilience and a positive attitude – while in school, and must complete an 80-hour work experience placement, as well as some volunteer work.

King said L2W was a natural extension to the school’s existing Gateway programme – a nationwide initiative, where Year 11-13 students do work experience placements in the field they aspire to, or which best compliments their capabilities and interests.

“Both Gateway and L2W allow students to get a taster of that particular job in a safe environment,” she said.

Mākoura College student Jo Stammers. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Rangatahi to Mahi (R2M) Partnerships are strategically designed to develop, strengthen, and grow our community. The key focus is to improve transitions for young people from education to employment and in so doing improve: young people’s work- readiness; business-readiness for young people (including those from cultural diversity); the ongoing supply line of skilled labour for local businesses; and the subsequent reduction in social costs associated with dependency and poverty.

A key component of this partnership involves the implementation of the License to Work (L2W) programme – conducted collaboratively by the partners involved in the partnership & the possibility of full or part-time employment at the end of the placement.

The key outcomes expected from this partnership include:

• The provision of meaningful, relevant and contextualised learning pathways beyond the classroom

• The provision of an ongoing supply line of experienced and skilled young workers

• The provision of work-ready and adult world-ready youth

• Improved capability by business to manage and promote the potential of youth

• Better local communities via improved personal, social and economic development

Currently 6 R2M partnerships: • Neer Enterprise• Higgins • McKenzie Electrical

Rangatahi to Mahi (R2M)

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“They can find what they like and dislike about a job, and if it suits them.

“[The programmes] also encourage companies who may not have previously been open to working with young people to give them a chance.”

NEER Enterprises, where trainee Jo is currently placed, is one such company which prides itself on its opportunities for youth, and its management was only too happy to partner.

The family-owned business was founded in the 1960s, originally specialising in pig farming, and eventually expanding its operations to include dairy, sheep and beef, and sheep milking.

Operations manager Kevin Cocker said NEER Enterprises has a history of offering work experience, and, eventually employment, to young people, hoping to attract and encourage a new generation of farmers

“At one stage there were very few young people coming into the industry,” Cocker said.

“We’re passionate about motivating the young ones to come farming, and we want to see them excel.

“Plus, we need people to come forward and replace us older guys – we’re not going to be around forever.”

Cocker said Jo had been “a consistent pleasure to work with”.

“You can chuck any task at her, from putting up electric fences to shifting stock, and she’ll do it to the best of her ability.”

Jo hopes to follow in the footsteps of several family members – including her older brother – who own and manage farms in various parts of the country.

At NEER Enterprises, she said she has met “lots of cool people”.

“The farm workers treat me like I’m just another worker.

“They don’t treat you like just a student – instead, you’re their equal.”

Even a minor injury sustained while climbing over a fence on the farm hasn’t dampened her enthusiasm.

“I had a big bruise on my ankle, but I was up and about after a few days, and didn’t miss any work.”

• Trust House (Copthorne Hotel, Solway Restaurant, Apache Jacks) • Farman & Turkington • McCarthys Transport

Youth Guarantee - Community of Learning (COL)In late July, the Strategic Team 6 organised an event at Lonestar to discuss the formation of a Youth Guarantee Community of Learning. This evening was organised by Team Lead Heath Mackenzie and the YETE Strategic Support Lead Maria McKenzie.

It was agreed that the development of a Youth Guarantee programmes Community of Learning (YG-COL) was an important goal to support an environment where the Tertiary Organisations who are offering Youth Guarantee programmes, and other programmes supporting young people into Tertiary study, work together towards a common goal.

It was also agreed that it would be preferable for our young people to have greater choice by reducing any duplication in courses offered. Supporting a cooperative Tertiary environment will be a very positive development for both the institutions and for the students.

The Relationships Lead will provide support for this new development. It is envisaged that the YG-COL will work together to prevent duplications of programmes offered in our region, develop shared marketing that provides rich information to prospective students and looks to better understand opportunities for the future.

It is hoped that this work will begin in late 2018.

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Future Me Conference Wairarapa’s third Future Me Careers Conference - Future Me in the Wai took place on Friday 3 August for Year 12 - 13 students, offering an opportunity for students to develop a direction for their future career paths and better understand the impact of their educational choices.

Organised by the Careers and Transition Teachers of the Wairarapa, the conference was an interactive, hands-on conference aimed at helping students understand what local employment opportunities exist, what our local employers are looking for in a new employee, what workplace training opportunities exist and how the subject choices students make at school can help them select their own future career options.

Alan Lodge is a long-time resident of Wairarapa, where he has farmed deer and South Devon cattle.

Involved in many aspects of the reform of the New Zealand economy, as CEO he successfully transformed the electric power board to Wairarapa Electricity, whose shareholders subsequently benefitted from the takeover by South Island interests.

Alan’s career has taken him around the world, including a period in England. While there, he was selected for the supervisory board of Network Rail, owner of the UK’s railway network, and undertook various charitable activities, including chairmanship of the organisation responsible for protecting the natural environment in North Yorkshire.

He served as a trustee of a hospice for a number of years, ultimately being invited by his fellow trustees to assume the CEO role.

He undertook a number of governance assignments for the City of York, including chairmanship of the board of governors of a secondary school that was experiencing difficult times. He oversaw significant changes to staff and to teaching and learning styles. In particular, the school adopted a curriculum designed to encourage early consideration of post-school life, with a focus on vocational subjects for those for whom university was not an obvious fit.

Alan Lodge - New Strategic Team 6 Lead

PHOTO/SUPPLIED

170 students from all of our local colleges - Wharekura o Wairarapa, Wairarapa Teen Parent Unit, Mākoura College, Chanel College, Solway College, Rathkeale College, St Matthew’s Collegiate, Wairarapa College, Kuranui College and Ponatahi Christian School - attended the event.

For the organisers, it was essential to involve local employers and employees to run interactive, hands-on workshops with students. These workshops are aimed at helping students understand more about the workplace, what training is available and the realities of working in different industries.

This year the conference was extremely well supported by local employers with some of the younger employees passing on first-hand experiences about transitioning from school to employment, including apprenticeship info and on-the-job

training details. Such close connections can spark ideas and foster real positive change. One student remarked, “I had never thought about a career in Real Estate - but after going to the workshop, it really interests me (now).” Another commented that they had not initially chosen the Social Worker workshop, “… but after listening to the lady from Whaiora, I am now really interested.”

The Conference has been generously supported by and could not be possible without help from UCOL Wairarapa, Breadcraft (Wai) Ltd and Careers New Zealand with Wairarapa REAP also providing extensive administrative support.

Whānau Community Event Youth in Education Training or Employment (YETE) hosted a whānau information evening called "Support Your Teen" on Wednesday 15 August, giving parents of Wairarapa region, college-aged students a chance to help them understand options available for students transitioning from school into work or further study.  Presentations included representatives from tertiary organisations who explained to groups of parents the tertiary options available to students. Mark Callagher introduced My Blueprint, a web and mobile app for managing education pathways. Dress For Success meanwhile demonstrated how students can receive guidance about professional wardrobe requirements for job interviews and different workplaces. “Earn and Learn” was explained by Josh Williams, chief executive of Industry Training Federation. Williams gave examples of how young people undertaking apprenticeships were getting their careers established while still learning.

Attendees genuinely appreciated the information shared and having the opportunity to strike up personal conversations with the presenters. Parents Andrew and Tracy Graham attended so they could find out more about the options available to their teenagers. “We want to find out how to best help our kids”, Andrew said. The Grahams said that they left with different thinking to what they came in with and that the evening was “really helpful”.

ABOVE: Therese King of Mākoura College (left) and Matt Renata, Ministry of Education (far right) speaking to a parent about gateway and vocational pathways.

PHOTO/SUPPLIED

UPCOMING EVENTS - Term 3/Term 4

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If you would like further information on any of the events or initiatives listed in this newsletter, or wish to participate and/or contribute in some way, please contact Jack on 027 663 0385 or jack.sheppard@yete.nz

Employer Workshop – Understanding Millennials & Getting the Best out of Youth

Date: Thursday 11 October Location: REAP House Time: 5.00 – 6.30pm

RSVP here by 4 October Employer

Workshops

Quickfire Connections – Primary Industries

Date: Wednesday 24 October Location: Carterton Events Centre

Events: Employer Prep Workshop (5.00pm – 5.30pm)

RSVP here by 17 October

YEP-L2W Graduation Day

Date: 29 November Time: 5.00 – 7.00pm

Location: Carterton Events Centre

Quickfire Connections

YEP-L2W Facilitator Group Mentor Workshop

Date: 7 November Time: 1.00 – 3.00pm

Location: REAP House

RSVP here Licence to

Work (L2W)

YETE End of Year Celebration

Date: 21 November Time: 5.00 – 7.00pm

Location: REAP House

Licence to Work (L2W)

Year 10 Taster Days

Save the dates! Date: 23 and 30 November

(5.30pm – 7.00pm) Main Event

Our Sponsors

2018 YETE Meeting DatesAction Group

All meetings are at REAP, 340 Queen Street, Masterton 1.00 – 3.00pm

Friday 12 October Friday 14 December

1. Leadership & Management Team (REAP, 11.30am-12.30pm)

Friday 12 October Friday 14 December

3. Employer Team (REAP, 3.00-5.00pm) Tuesday 6 November Tuesday 4 December

5. Whānau Team (BNZ Holdsworth Room 9.30-10.30am)

Tuesday 9 October

2. Educators Team (9.00am at various venues)

Wednesday 31 October – St Matthew’s College Wednesday 28 November – Kuranui College

4. Career & Transition Team (REAP, 3.30-5.00pm)

Tuesday 6 November (Pukeatua Room)

6. Youth Education Providers Team (REAP, 3.15-5.00pm) Thursday 1 NovemberThursday 6 December

Strategic Teams 1 – 6

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REAP House 340 Queen Street, Masterton 5810 06 377 1379 ext 708 admin@yete.nz

www.yete.nz