Recent TEC benchmarking data shows that Tai Poutini Polytechnic had the highest overall course completion rates in the ITP sector for the 2008 year, This is measured for all students who enrolled and completed the course requirements in the year of enrolment. Tai Poutini Poytechnic's result was a very gratifying 87% of all students successfully completing their courses in 2008. In the under 25 age group Tai Poutini had the second highest course completion rates.

This is the third year in a row where Tai Poutini Polytechnic had either the highest or second highest overall course completion rates in the tertiary sector and shows the quality of educational delivery to our student groups. It is even more pleasing when we recognise that many of our students are part-time students who are gaining skills for productivity while they are in employment.

One of the factors behind the results is our generally smaller than average class sizes and the way that our courses are designed. That course design has also been recognised with industry and sector body awards for the quality of our training."

It has been a case of ‘the teacher being tested’ at Tai Poutini Polytechnic recently, as three of their Outdoor Recreation tutors took on the rapids and eddies of the Buller River near Murchison to advance their white water kayaking qualifications.

Jo Parsons, Leadership and Guiding Programme Co-ordinator and Keith Riley, Outdoor Education Tutor passed their New Zealand Outdoor Instructors Association (NZOIA) Kayak II qualification, while Dave Ritchie, Outdoor Recreation Programme Co-ordinator is now one of only four Kayak II Assessors in New Zealand.

“The trio has a combined total of 60 years recreational kayaking experience. They have moved up the ranks as instructors, passing their passion on to hundreds of students over the years,” says Stu Drake, Head of Outdoor Education. The Kayak II Instructors qualification is the highest level of qualification awarded in NZ. It is for instructors who are teaching intermediate to advanced kayaking, as well as teaching others how to instruct kayaking.

Ritchie gained his Kayak II Instructors qualification 8 years ago and is regarded as one of New Zealand’s top kayak instructors. His tuition skills are highly sought after both here and overseas.

Riley is one of the New Zealand’s premier adventure kayakers. He has numerous 1st descents to his name and is a constant source of admiration for young up and comers.

Parsons, also an accomplished kayaker, is one of only two practicing female Kayak II instructors.

The Trio was rigorously assessed over three “full on” days at Murchison. “These qualifications aren’t easy to come by,” says Drake. “Only 30 NZOIA members have achieved their Kayak Level II Award, and we have three of those 30 at Tai Poutini.”

“We are very proud of their achievements”

Like many of Tai Poutini’s Outdoor Education instructors, Parsons Riley and Ritchie were attracted to the West Coast initially for the kayaking and the lifestyle. The Coast has proved to be a far better location than they had anticipated, all three now proudly call it home.

Tai Poutini Polytechnic has a total of 44 students enrolled on its Certificate in Outdoor Recreation programme and Certificate in Advanced Leadership and Guiding. The Polytechnic also runs a ski patrol school in Wanaka and offers a number of short courses in Outdoor Recreation in pursuits such as snowboarding, advanced sea kayaking, white water kayaking, rafting and mountaineering.

An innovative training and standard assessment model developed by Tai Poutini Polytechnic’s Mining Department took away the top award for ‘Quality Improvement’ at the Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics of New Zealand (ITP) Awards.

The judges congratulated the West Coast polytechnic on its commitment to “quality assurance processes that demonstrably improve student success”, and commended Tai Poutini’s Mining Department on their development of a model which enables the extractive industry to recognise overseas miners’ competencies without retraining.

The Awards ceremony took place on 10th June in Wellington, during ITP New Zealand’s 2009 conference, which focused on Skilling New Zealand’s Recovery.

West Coast mining company Pike River Coal approached Tai Poutini for help in recognising the skills of overseas workers when it was unable to find enough skilled workers locally for its new mine. “The company felt there had to be an improved streamlined approach to the process and asked us to help come up with one,” says Peter Fairhall, Mining Head of Department.

“Foreign employees often hold Certificates of Competency from their own countries but to gain the New Zealand equivalent, they had to undertake many months of training and assessment,” explains Fairhall.

Fairhall approached well-known educator, Liz Bowen-Clewley, with the idea of using a technique she had pioneered known as ‘Professional Conversation’. This is where the candidate presents their knowledge of the required subject matter to a panel and discusses their work history in relation to the job for which they are applying.

“A group of industry experts and educationists assess this knowledge and decide whether the candidate should receive the unit standards required for a New Zealand Certificate of Competency - all within one day,” says Fairhall.

Hailed as “a huge success”, this pioneering model has been made available to the whole extractive industry. “It equates to huge savings in time and money for companies and applicants and has been embraced with open arms by the mining industry,” says Fairhall, who believes the model could be used by other industries as well. “I can see no reason why other industry training organisations couldn’t pick up this model and progress with it.”

Fairhall says, “To have our peers recognise the innovation of this model is a huge honour.”

ITP New Zealand is the national association for the country’s institutes’ of technology and polytechnics. The annual ITP Awards recognise and celebrate excellence and innovation in these institutions.

“The awards show why polytechnics and institutes of technology are the most popular place for Kiwi adults to learn,” says Dave Guerin, Executive Director of ITP New Zealand.

Tai Poutini Polytechnic’s hospitality students “did the Polytechnic proud” when they walked away with a total of 28 medals from the Southern Light Salon Culinaire, an annual regional competition held on 24/25 June, which aims to promote excellence within the industry.

“I was utterly delighted to have achieved so well,” says Service Industries Head of Department, Roderick Turner. “Winning a medal in a competition like this shows dedication and a very high degree of skill.”

Through an internal competition, eight Tai Poutini students were selected to compete in four classes – Table Setting, Beverage Service, Cocktails and Barista.

They were - Anne Patterson, Blu Marqueses, Danienlle Surgenor-Jansen, Amy Steger, Ashleigh Fanselow, Nicole Devescovi, Anjelica Hunt and Chris Hunter.

The students were competing against peers from the Southern Institute of Technology and Otago Polytechnic, both described by Turner as having “a tradition of very high standards”.

“It certainly wasn’t a walk in the park. We were up against some stiff competition.”

This is the first year Tai Poutini students have taken part in the competition, held this year in Invercargill. “We had a nine hour drive, so you have to factor in a bit of jet-lag!”

Judging for the Southern Light Salon Culinaire is done on a prescriptive basis, using strict international standards. “The fact we got six gold, 12 silver and 10 bronze medals is evidence our students have achieved a very high standard in practical and technical skills,” says Turner, who adds that their achievements will benefit the students career-wise. “Winning a medal at a competition like this makes for a very good addition to their CVs.”

Turner says the students underwent a lot of intensive training in the weeks leading up to the competition and demonstrated “a huge amount of commitment and dedication”.

The students are one-third of the way through their training for a National Certificate in Hospitality and Tourism and are also enjoying demonstrating their skills to diners at Tutoro, Tai Poutini’s training restaurant in Greymouth.

The “Control” tour

MAINZ graduate Jason Gore and his band 'The Happy Endings' are gearing up to do their first international tour!

Following a successful 84 date Australian national tour to launch their self titled debut album, The Happy Endings went straight back into the studio to cut their explosive new single ‘Control’

The album tour took in Noosa, Brisbane, Newcastle, Sydney, Wagga, Melbourne, Bendigo, Hobart, Launceston, Adelaide, Perth, Margaret River, Kalgoorlie, Collie, Geraldton, Karratha, Port Headland, Broome and almost everywhere in between.

As of July 2009, The Happy Endings are launching new single ‘Control’ with a very impressive run of international tour dates. The tour will see the band play some massive festival and club dates in UK, USA and Europe, including the main stage of a European festival with Moby, Ting Tings, James Blunt and Pete Doherty.

They will be playing club, pub, and festival shows in UK, Europe,and the US.

More info on the band click here.

Dr Jerry Shearman, CPIT Head of School of Applied Sciences and Allied Health, met with students studying pre-health science at TPP last week. TPP has collaborated with CPIT to bring the Certificate in Pre Health Science to its Greymouth campus, giving students on the West Coast an opportunity to gain the necessary credits to enroll in a variety of health programmes. Dr Jerry has been particularly keen to promote the Exercise Science programmes, because CPIT has a big new laboratory full of shiny machines that he is very enthusiastic about!

Cathy Andrews and Mary Kensignton from CPIT will also visit Greymouth in August to promote CPIT's nursing and midwifery programmes which are staircasing programmes from the Certificate in Pre Health Science offered at TPP.

"TPP is delighted to be a major sponsor of the first West Coast Tourism Awards," says Mequa Griffin, Marketing Manager Tai Poutini Polytechnic.

"We are sponsoring the Acess to Tourism Award and also and the People Development Award."

The Purpose of the West Coast Tourism Awards is to recognise excellence in the hospitality and tourism sectors. These awards have been introduced to commend and show appreciation for the hard work and commitment displayed across these sectors throughout the West Coast.

The award gala will be hosted at Shanytown on Saturday 10 October 2009.

For more information click here.

Steven Le Corre, a senior Culinary Arts Tutor at Aoraki Polytechnic and leading Patisserie Chef for the New Zealand Culinary Team, impressed TPP Professional Culinary Arts chef students with a sugar demonstration and seminar in June.

"It was great to have someone of Steven's calibre visit TPP and facilitate an inspiring demonstration. Sugar work is such a specialised area, It was an excellent opportunity for students to watch one of the countries leading sugar specialists in action. The students were very appreciative," says Chef Programme Co-ordinator, Alex Hayward.

Le Corre demonstrated a range of techniques including pulled, blown, and moulded sugar pieces.

In February this year the mining community and the wider West Coast community was in shock with the sudden death of Gordon (Donnie) Ladner. At the time of his death this former Kiwi League fullback was working for the Mines Rescue Trust as a trainer. The Mining Department at TPP has a close working relationship with Mines Rescue and Donnie delivered a significant amount of training for TPP on its behalf. He was highly regarded by the mining industry and had held the role of GM with Mines Rescue for some years before taking up a position with Roa Mine then Oceana Gold in Palmerston, but the call of the Coast brought Donnie back to his hometown of Reefton in 2006. TPP has not only lost a knowledgeable and skilled tutor but also a good friend. Farewell Donnie – you will be sorely missed.

Photo – L to R, Glen Campbell TPP, Trevor Watts Station Manager MR, Anna Panther TPP, Peter Fairhall HOD Mining TPP, Robbie Smith Trainer MR, Troy Stewart Trainer MR, Glennis Rankin Office Manager MR, standing beside the Pohutukawa memorial donated by TPP in remembrance of Donnie.

Tai Poutini Polytechnic is pleased to be offering a new emergency management qualification in 2010. Since 2006, TPP has delivering emergency management training through the Emergency Management Academy of New Zealand (EMANZ). This has lead to 67 people being awarded the TPP Certificate in Emergency Management (Level 2) and 24 people being awarded the Level 4 Certificate in Emergency Management (Level 4) to date with the 2009 graduation planned for 17 October 2009.

In November 2008, TPP purchased EMANZ and since then work on the development of a higher-level qualification in emergency management has been a priority for EMANZ staff. TPP has recently had its Diploma in Applied Emergency Management (Level 6) approved by ITPQ – the quality assurance body for Polytechnics. While initially planned for first delivery in July 2009, the first intake for this programme has been delayed until term 1, 2010.

“This will be an exciting, ground breaking programme of study, and I’m confident that this Diploma will help to equip students with a very relevant, applied set of skills to take with them into the workplace” says Programme Development Officer, Chris Schraders.

For further information, please contact Chris by email chris.schraders@emanz.ac.nz or by phone 06 353 1469.

Students from multiple towns on the West Coast have enrolled on the July intake of Hair, Beauty and Grooming.

"This intake we have students from Greymouth, Reefton, Hokitika, Westport and Franz Josef enrolled on the programme," says Lynette Panther.

"The students really enjoyed their first day with team building excercises and are already gelling as a group."

The level 2, 18 week programme introduces students to basic hairdressing skills and provides an introduction to the beauty industry.

The next intake for this programme is 8th February 2010.

What is your background?
I was born, raised and educated in the rural Whangarei area. My first real career was in sheep and beef farming (12 years) followed by 13 years working for St John Ambulance. While with St John, I discovered a passion for education and decided to specialise in public education and eventually became Chief Instructor for the Northern Region (NI) based in Auckland. In 2005 my wife Marilyn and I purchased land near Greymouth and decided if we had the opportunity, we would shift here and work. In 2006 I was given the opportunity to work for a few weeks as temporary Programme Co-ordinator for the Digger Schools, and the rest is history. Although I do not come from a civil construction background, I have operated most types of heavy machinery (with varying degrees of skill) at least once, prior to taking up the position.

What do you like most about your job?
I have a great team of tutors and co-ordinators within my Department who are amazing to work with. The Civil infrastructure industry is a hard industry to operate within, but the successes we are beginning to have makes the efforts worthwhile.

What is the most difficult/challenging part of your job?
There are definitely some challenges to running Digger Schools economically while keeping the fees accessible to potential attendees.

Favourite place to visit?
Probably Thailand. I enjoyed getting out of Bangkok and into the countryside where the pace is a bit slower. The people were very delightful; they were extremely friendly and even shorter than me (hard to believe).

Favourite sporting moment?
No single moment stands out but the following were pretty good: watching Sid Going score tries for Northland and the All Blacks; seeing Murph winning V8Supercar races; and when my daughter kicked the winning goal against an all-boys soccer team.

Favourite music?
I was raised on Country music (especially Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves) and still enjoy its less strident versions of this genre. Also, I am still amazed by the poetic genius of Lenard Cohen, the laid-back brilliance of Mark Knopfler and the great voice of Annie Lennox, but my favourite music today is Gospel music, especially from Linda Randall.

What do you like most about the Coast?
I like almost everything about the Coast. I like its down to earth people, its trees and birds, its greenness and its magnificent coastline. I like the weather regardless of type; both the rain and the fine days can be spectacular. Most of all I enjoy our 10 acres of forest paradise where I can go and shut out the world.

Interests/hobbies?
I enjoy landscaping, fishing, reading and travel (it is always fascinating to see how others live).