WorldSkills finalists selected at NorthTec

Kaitaia’s Curtis Hartley and Whangarei’s Matthew Baird will be representing Northland at the WorldSkills national finals in Christchurch in September after coming out on top in their respective automotive and welding categories during the regional competition held at NorthTec recently.

WorldSkills is an international organisation that runs work skill competitions to measure skills excellence around the world. Competitors at the national finals in September will be vying for a place on the New Zealand WorldSkills team that will compete against representatives from 50 other countries at the international WorldSkills competition in London next year.

Curtis is doing his apprenticeship with Archibald Motors in Kaitaia and is the third year of his National Certificate in Automotive Engineering at NorthTec. Matthew Baird is working for Industrial Stainless Design in Whangarei as a light metal fabricator specialising in stainless steel and aluminium.

NorthTec Automotive tutor Simon Phelps said that Curtis had to do six different activities testing his abilities across a range of skills such as gearbox repair, engine management and wheel alignment.

“Fourteen young tradespeople from around the country compete in the automotive section at the national competition.” NorthTec will be providing three automotive judges for the national competition.

NorthTec Engineering tutor Leon Ducrot has himself competed at national level in WorldSkills and knows how tough the competition will be. “I’ll be doing three hours a week of preparation work with Matthew so they he has a good honest shot at doing well at the nationals.”

WorldSkills is a great programme and can lead open up many doors for successful competitors, said Leon.

“It opened up huge opportunities for me offshore and locally. Companies overseas train apprentices just for WorldSkills. It’s a brilliant programme.”
NorthTec graduate Marcel Woods won the national WorldSkills competition in 2008 and went on to represent New Zealand at the international WorldSkills competition in Calgary last year. He was place 10th in the world at the international competition.

Still time for school trustee nominations

Even though we are in the middle of school holidays, schools around the country are still preparing for the 2010 School Trustee Elections.

There is still time to nominate yourself, or somebody you know, to stand for the 2010 School Trustee Elections. Nominations for the biggest democratic elections in New Zealand close at many schools at noon on 23 April 2010.

National Election Project Manager, Elaine Hines says “Although many people have begun putting their names forward, schools still need more people to stand for election. It’s fantastic to see hundreds of people putting their name forward around the country, but there isn’t long to go before nominations close. I encourage all people in the community who are considering standing for school trusteeship to do so now. The sooner the better!.”

It is helpful for schools if people get their nominations in as soon as possible so schools have an idea of how many potential trustees they have.

More than 15,000 people are needed to form boards in the countries 2,460 state and state-integrated schools. Compare that to the 122 seats in Parliament. Over 100,000 people have taken on the trusteeship roles since self managing schools were introduced in 1989.

Each school has an appointed Returning Officer, and organise their own election, which includes drawing up a voter roll, and having it open to inspections.

It is important to every school to get the candidates with the right mix of skills to stand for election.

“It’s an important position and there are particular skills that all schools need. Some of those skills are passion and energy, people skills, honesty and integrity.” says Elaine.

Financial know-how and strategic thinking are also valuable. Getting a blend of skills among members is important and something for voters to consider.

The theme of the 2010 School Trustee Elections is “Strong leaders make strong schools” says Elaine, and we need the skills and experiences of the wider community to realise our theme – and our vision of all students achieving to a high level.

Trustees do not have to be parents, or have children at the school they stand for. What they do need is a commitment to children and education and the skills to help the school improve student achievement.

Chilean President to visit Victoria University

The President of Chile, His Excellency Ricardo Lagos, is to visit Victoria University tomorrow (May 4) to give an address on the relationship between New Zealand and Chile and to witness the signing of two agreements.

President Lagos, accompanied by his wife, Luisa Dur

Deadline Extended For Music Industry Scholarship

Maori record label Mai Music and the world’s largest institute for audio engineering, SAE, has extended the application deadline for a new music industry scholarship.

The inaugural He Taonga Waiata Scholarship was won last year by Josh Lloyd, 24, who is currently completing a nine-month full-time audio engineering diploma with the Auckland branch of the SAE Institute.

SAE is the largest audio and multimedia network of institutes in the world with local graduates employed by industry leaders such as Kog Transmissions, York Street Studios, Revolver Studios, College Hill Productions, Lab Studios, Sky TV and TVNZ.

Mai Music general manager Victor Stent says the deadline has been extended after a last-minute flood of applications which he attributes to recent Kiwi chart success.

Local musicians took out four of the top five albums in the latest RIANZ Top 50 album sales chart, the first time in history that New Zealand music has held such a position. Indeed, 11 of the top 50 albums were made in New Zealand.

Figures for the second quarter of this year also show an all-time high for New Zealand music on commercial radio. Local music accounted for just over 17 per cent of playlists, a strong indication that the 2003 target of 14.5 per cent will be surpassed.

“It’s great to see a broad cross-section of New Zealand artists now consistently succeeding in the NZ charts, but what we now urgently need is further investment in the studio talents which can consistently engineer, mix and produce their music to the standards necessary for sustainable commercial success,” Victor Stent says.

“Accordingly, we have partnered with SAE to offer this annual scholarship, in the hope that we can bring on at least one of those people who may have the raw talent, but not the money, to get access to this kind of world-class training … this is their big chance!”

Govt Panicking With National Standards “Marketing”

The education sector union NZEI Te Riu Roa says the government has launched what amounts to a National Standards marketing campaign, showing it is clearly on the back foot over the rollout of the policy.

The Prime Minister and the Education Minister have announced the government is spending $200,000 on an information and direct mail campaign to explain its National Standards policy. It’s also appointing an expert advisory committee to give advice on the implementation.

NZEI which represents 90% of primary teachers and 97% of primary principals says the government knows opposition to National Standards is growing and it is hitting the panic button.

“It is clear that New Zealanders are confused about National Standards and have no confidence they will raise educational achievement levels as the government claims. This information campaign is a kneejerk reaction to that,” says NZEI President Frances Nelson.

NZEI has launched its own National Standards school bus tour campaign which is travelling the country receiving overwhelming school, parent and community support for a trial of National Standards.

Ms Nelson says the government’s haphazard rollout of National Standards reinforces the fact that they are untried and untested and could end up being a costly political experiment at the expense of children’s learning. “The government needs to trial the Standards, not the teachers who are expected to implement them,” she says.

Frances Nelson believes there is little point in setting up an expert advisory committee to oversee the implementation of National Standards.

“Taxpayer’s money would be better spent and would better serve the interests of students if a National Standards trial was set up and independently reviewed, rather than a system-wide evaluation of the policy rollout.”

Education Leaders To Focus On Cultivating Learning

Education leaders from across the education spectrum will meet at the fourth annual Education Leaders Forum later this month to focus on strategies to help education organisations develop more collaborative, innovative and responsive learning environments.

‘Cultivating Learning: A living systems approach to growing education professionals’ is the theme of the forum to be held on 20 and 21 October at the Waiariki Institute of Technology in Rotorua.

“This year we are using ecology as a systems metaphor”, says forum convenor Lyall Lukey. “A learning ecology is an environment that supports the interaction of overlapping learning communities which are constantly evolving, largely self-organizing and which cross-pollinate with each other”.

The annual forum aims to provide education leaders with professional refreshment and an opportunity to share ideas and experiences with other education leaders. The event is designed as a springboard for participants to take emerging professional development practice back to their own organisations in order to enhance learning for both staff and students

“Educators work in a largely autonomous if not atomized environment. Connecting islands of professional practice increases the diversity and richness of learning experiences. ELF is a great opportunity for people to get in some quality thinking to reflect and plan ahead for 2011 and beyond”, says Mr Lukey.

Contributors include Dr Jan Robertson, former Director of the London Centre for Leadership in London; Hon Anne Tolley, Minister of Education; Ed Bernacki, The Idea Factory, Canada; Hon Steve Maharey Vice-Chancellor of Massey University; Dr John Langley, CEO of Cognition Education; Eva-Maria Salikhova, author of the 21st Teenager; Dr Angus Hikairo Macfarlane, Professor of Maori Research at the University of Canterbury; Dr Cheryl Doig, Director at Think Beyond; Trevor McIntyre, Principal of Christchurch Boys High School; Chris Bryant, Principal of Brooklyn Primary School; Chris Jansen, University of Canterbury; and Sherryll Wilson, CEO of Canterbury Westland Kindergarten Association Inc.

“The challenge for busy conference participants is to turn ideas into action back in their own organisations”, says Mr Lukey. “Forum participants will be provided with strategic tools and templates such as the ELF Ideas Navigator Guide and Accelerated Planning Technique to help them engage colleagues in the visioning and strategic planning process so they can turn ideas into action.”

The forum is backed by major sponsor Cognition Education and supporters Waiariki Institute of Technology, CORE Education, Te Kura, Massey University, Learning Media, and Lukey Training Resources.

Good home heating cuts school absences

Improving heating in New Zealand homes with children who suffer from asthma has a significant impact on reducing the number of days children are away from school.

A recently published study by the University of Otago, Wellington shows that installing heat pumps, wood or pellet burners or flued gas heaters is the key to cutting school sick days for children with asthma.

The study of 269 children by the He Kainga Oranga/Housing and Health Research Programme shows that more effective energy-efficient heating in homes previously using unflued gas heaters, open fires or low-kilowatt electric heaters, reduces winter school absences for asthmatic children by an average of 21%; or nearly two days in the winter middle terms.

“This represents a large number of preventable school absences when taken over the one in four (148,000) children in New Zealand between five and fourteen who have asthma,” says lead investigator Sarah Free.

“Overall this corresponds to about 84,000 potentially preventable days of school absence each winter for the asthmatic children, and of course we expect the additional heating to have also improved the health of other children and teenagers in the house”

It is well recognised that New Zealand houses are poorly insulated and cold by international standards. One million houses need retro-fitted insulation and better heating, while two percent of homes use no heating at all.

The average indoor temperatures in many NZ houses are below the WHO recommended minimum of 18 degrees celcius.

For NZ children less than five years old, mortality associated with respiratory diseases is estimated to be 2.5 times higher in winter. Similarly hospital admissions for children under five are higher during winter, and higher for those living in pre-war housing and lower socio-economic areas.

A large number of New Zealand homes (30%) use cheaper unflued gas heating, which produces significant amounts of water vapour, encouraging the growth of mould and fungi which may aggravate asthma symptoms. These heaters also produce high levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), shown to make asthma worse.

The potential impact of the projected electricity price-rises this winter is concerning to Sarah Free, “As power prices are set to rise in most parts of New Zealand this winter there is a risk that families will cut back on home heating to save money. This study makes me worry about the educational impacts of that price rise.”

The study supplied half of 409 households with better heating in Porirua, the Hutt Valley, Christchurch, Dunedin and Bluff. The other 50% of households without heaters acted as a control group. Then school absences for asthmatic children were checked with respective schools during the two winter terms.

“One additional aspect of this study is that overseas research has shown that improved attendance at school means better academic results. So having a warm home helps school achievement. It also assists family relationships as people feel better about staying at home and have increased enthusiasm for family life,” Sarah Free said.

This study has recently been published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. It was funded by the Health Research Council, Contact Energy, Ministry of Environment, EECA, Hutt Valley DHB, Capital and Coast DHB, the LPG Associaton.

Corporate bullying in East Asia in three minutes

A PhD student studying corporate bullying and governance issues in East Asian businesses has won this year’s University of Waikato Thesis in Three competition.

Azilawati Banchit, who’s from Malaysia and studying at Waikato Management School, beat nine other finalists in the event held at Hamilton’s Clarence Street Theatre on October 27. She is studying mergers and acquisitions in the region over a decade and the impact it has on people and business.

The doctoral students each had three minutes to outline their theses before judges and a full theatre, and their presentations were judged on their ability to effectively communicate their research to a general audience using a single slide.

Azilawati Banchit won $5000 in research funds for her first placing. Second placing and winner of the people’s choice award was Computer Science student Michael Walmsley who is developing an interactive computer program that helps people learn a foreign language. He used Te Reo Maori as his example to outline the three stages of his learning program and won a total of $3000 to put towards his research.

Other topics included sports and ethics, banking and small business, translating sacred texts from and into Te Reo Maori, science education, loss of language, sport and ethics, dog training, predicting seizures, and the role of justice in democracy.

Baking business gives unemployed fresh opportunity

A thriving arrangement between Manukau Institute of Technology and Cowell’s Pavlova franchise in Otahuhu has resulted in nine jobs for MIT students. In turn, the participants, who have all been through MIT’s Employment Programmes, have given the business the capacity to supply the region with up to 1000 pavlovas a day.

Business owners David and Leah Down are delighted with their workforce comprised of Tongan, Samoan, Iraqi, Thai, Indian and Maori workers. “We’ve seen some amazing transformations with people coming in so shy and quiet then gaining confidence in their skills and becoming part of the group dynamic,” says David.

The institute’s Employment Programmes offer training opportunities for motivated unemployed job seekers from non-English speaking backgrounds, and are often the first port of call for new migrants with other candidates referred by Work and Income or family contacts. The 18-week programmes range from Employment Skills English to Preparation for Trades and Preparation for Modern Apprentices with content covering workplace expectations, health and safety, numeracy and literacy and work experience placement.

But there’s more to it than that says Jim Barnes, head of Employment Programmes. “We help people with all the nuances they need to be aware of as they enter the workforce – if you don’t understand something then ask for help, help other people in a group, if you see that someone is trouble, keep away. We support people as they explore options and teach them to work with their strengths.”

Jim is always on the lookout for participants with excellent attendance records who he can recommend to employers as keen and reliable.

“Cowell’s Pavlovas have offered us an excellent community partnership. While the business needs workers it also feels a social responsibility to reach out to people who need to be given an employment chance.

“They’ve invested and that investment has paid off. They’ve offered full time permanent work to nine people, but others we have sent in to cover busy periods leave with a reference that will help them find other food manufacturing and baking roles. They’ve provided a stepping stone.

“The benefits to them are the chance to assess employee potential with all candidates being given an initial trial period. They also get workers with a high level of enthusiasm. It’s a feel-good thing for their company.”

Leah Down agrees that the investment has been repaid with staff loyalty. “We’ve also built up such a great rapport with Jim. He has gone above and beyond and, when necessary, he has arranged translators and helped us with things like cultural or family protocol. As a small business, it’s great to have that support. When we need more workers he’s the first person we call.”

Government Set to Ruin Party for Early Childhood

The education sector union NZEI Te Riu Roa says it is ironic that as early childhood teachers celebrate the huge strides made in early childhood education, the government looks set to pull back on its investment.

Early childhood teachers along with NZEI and the New Zealand Childcare Association are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their first collective agreement.

The Consenting Parties Agreement, now known as the Early Childhood Education Collective Agreement or ECECA, has set the benchmark for teaching standards and conditions in early childhood centres and services around the country. It is also one of the largest multi-employer agreements in New Zealand, now involving 162 employers who operate early childhood services.

At the heart of the agreement is a commitment to provide quality teaching and learning for New Zealand’s youngest learners.

NZEI says unfortunately the government doesn’t share that commitment. Last year it did a u-turn on agreed qualification targets and appears to have abandoned the target of having a fully qualified and registered teaching workforce by 2012. Now it is criticising the amount of money spent on early childhood education and signalling upcoming cuts in the Budget.

NZEI Vice President Judith Nowotarski says the investment is worth it.

“Early childhood education provides the building blocks for all future education and increased investment brings huge benefits for children and parents.”

“Research shows that investing in quality early childhood education is in the national interest and makes good economic sense. We need to hold onto the gains we’ve made and keep moving forward. The government should not seek to undermine that,” she says.