Skills for Good - May 2024: Fresh look for Careerforce, 30th anniversary, learner support and more

As detailed in this newsletter, Careerforce celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2024, having been established as an Industry Training Organisation back in 1994. This is 30 years of dedicated focus on work-based learning across the health and wellbeing sectors. If employer survey satisfaction levels are anything to go by, it is also 30 years of listening to the needs of our sectors, and continuously evolving and improving our programmes, and our employer and learner supports.

We remain in a state of uncertainty around the organisational structures that will replace Te Pūkenga, currently in the throes of disestablishment.

However, of more certainty is that our 30 years of experience and expertise will help inform the shape of any future entity, and we have been continuing discussions with various officials to share the Careerforce journey to date, and what we believe to be the Careerforce difference. We expect greater clarity over the next few months, but just as it took some time to create Te Pūkenga, the same will apply to any future organisational structures. In the meantime, it is very much business as usual, and it is pleasing to see strong levels of both learner enrolments and learner activity levels, a reflection of our shared mahi.

Ngā mihi nui

Rod Bentham
Executive Director
Careerforce

You may have noticed a fresh new look for Careerforce in this newsletter. If you follow the news, you will know that Te Pūkenga is in the process of being disestablished. While we still legally remain a business division of Te Pūkenga for the time being, we are moving back to operating as individual and single branded business divisions. While our future state remains unknown at this stage, this brand refresh signals that we continue to look forwards with confidence and optimism.

Its inner coil suggests a return to the point of origin, and symbolises the way in which life both changes and stays the same. This is very apt for Careerforce, as while we continue to go through organisational change, we remain committed to passionately supporting work-based learning across the health and wellbeing sectors, just as we have in the past, and just as we will continue to do into the future. Our employers and ākonga are at the heart of everything we do.

Later this year, Careerforce will celebrate its 30th anniversary. Careerforce was first established as Community Support Services ITO (CSSITO) in 1994, with the trading name changing to Careerforce in 2006. It took its current shape as a result of ITO consolidation between 2011 and 2016, including mergers with Social Services ITO (SSITO), Building Service Contractors ITO (BSCITO) and Health Ed Trust (HET).

From humble beginnings as an organisation with just 9 staff in 1994, we have grown to an organisation with over 170 staff who support over 2000 employers nationally and over 15,000 learners annually.

While we have had various trading names and structures across the 30 years, the one constant has been our absolute focus on work-place based learning, and our focus on our health and wellbeing sectors.

Across our 30 years, we have supported tens of thousands of learners into life changing careers, and this is something that we are immensely proud of. These learners support many of New Zealand’s most vulnerable people, and we feel that we have helped to improve the quality of care and support of these people, through qualifications that our sectors and employers have helped shape across the 30 years.

In March we launched round 1 of the Careerforce Manaaki Fund, designed to provide temporary financial assistance to learners facing unexpected hardship that is impacting upon their studies.

Round 2 closed on 15 May with 183 applications for a one off payment of $400 to help with alleviating financial barriers. We have now scheduled two more rounds*

Round 3
Applications open: 3 June – 16 June
Applicants notified: 1 July 2024
Round 4
Applications open: 8 July – 21 July
Applicants notified: 5 August 2024

If you have learners who you think should apply, please encourage them to complete the application form here when round 3 applications open. To be eligible, they must be enrolled in a Careerforce programme and meet all the relevant criteria. For more information, please refer to our FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions).

Learners will be notified of the outcome within two to three weeks of the funding round closing date. Recipients of the Manaaki fund will be asked to provide feedback to Careerforce to enable us to measure the impact of this funding.

We can support learners with their application if needed, at Manaaki.Fund@careerforce.org.nz

Do your trainees or apprentices need some extra support with their training programmes? Our Achieve Study Hubs are face-to-face sessions where they can drop in, ask questions, meet with other learners, and receive help with their learning.

Our Achieve Study Hubs are scheduled across the country. Trainees and apprentices are also welcome to attend sessions outside their area. See the full schedule on our website. We have contacted learners about these sessions and they can RSVP by completing the online form on our website.

Please encourage your staff to attend these Study Hubs. We know that learners who have attended these events have found them very beneficial.

Read what learners say about our study sessions:

“I gained a lot of knowledge that I did not have before attending, and I feel more confident in doing my assessments.”

“The connection to other learners, and the brilliant support from the instructors.”

“Having one on one assistance and meeting up with others in our course with the ability to chat about our progress.”

“Being able to instantly ask for help with something I did not quite understand. Being able to get input to see if I was on the right track before putting time and effort into answering questions. Chatting briefly to other learners and see that we are all facing the same challenges.”

“Being able to ask for assistance and get an immediate response.”

“The support from the Careerforce staff was amazing.”

“Comfortable environment close to town.”

We understand how important it is that your staff can genuinely demonstrate the skills and competencies required in their work.

Unfortunately we’re seeing more and more instances of academic dishonesty in learner’s assessments, and it appears that a small minority of our learners don’t think the rules apply to them. These learners may have presented evidence gathered from another learner’s previously submitted work or from online resources - including generative AI, or from other sources.

Careerforce takes academic dishonesty seriously. We have an important role in ensuring the integrity of our programmes and qualifications. Equally, you need to know that your staff are skilled and competent to do their job, and your clients need to know they are being properly looked after.

When examples of academic dishonesty have been detected, there are consequences. In some cases we have had to remove unit standards from a learner’s NZQA record of achievement and the learner is required to re-submit new assessment evidence for their assessments for marking. If a qualification has been awarded and unit standards are removed from the NZQA record of achievement, the qualification will also be removed. If continued academic dishonesty is detected, the learner’s training agreement may be terminated. All of these consequences can have impacts on the relationship between the learner and the employer.

All assessment work completed must be the learner's own and must be produced without assistance from other trainees or other sources. Learners may find the following resource helpful: Your original words. Where learners have used the ideas of other authors, they need to acknowledge all the sources. Learners are reminded that their training agreement requires compliance with The Educational Regulatory Framework of Te Pūkenga: Te Kawa Maiorooro.

We encourage you to remind staff that there are lots of supports available. If they are struggling with any of their assessments, or with literacy, they can also attend one of our free study workshops across the country, or contact us at Careerforce.

Our goal is to help your staff become skilled, competent and to succeed!

Version 1 of our apprenticeship programmes close on 31 May 2024. Some of you may have one or more apprentices enrolled in a programme that is closing. We will be writing to those of you who are impacted, as well as to the apprentices. Transfers to version 2 take place from 6 June 2024.

Once transferred, apprentices will notice some changes to their programmes, including at least one additional module. View the details of these programme changes. Careerforce Apprenticeship Advisors are available to support apprentices with the changes to their programmes. If you have any questions, please contact your apprentice’s Careerforce Apprenticeship Advisor or contact your Careerforce Workplace Advisor.

This is a reminder that the last date for Careerforce trainees to submit assessments for these version 1 programmes is 31 May 2024. The Level 3 programmes impacted are: Health Assistance (version 1), Support Work (version 1), Orderly Services (version 1), Newborn Hearing Screening (version 1), Dental Assistance (version 1)

After 31 May 2024, any learners who have not completed all the required unit standards for this version of the qualification will, from July 2024, be transferred to the version 2 programmes. We have also advised impacted learners and assessors.

If you have any queries about the closure of version 1 programmes, or transferring to version 2 programmes, please contact your Careerforce Workplace Advisor.