Training for Good - December 2021: Track your progress, meet an inspirational fellow trainee, and more

Kia ora Lottie

Welcome to the summer issue of Training for Good.

As 2021 draws to a close, we'd like to congratulate you for continuing to push on with your training, despite this being another challenging year. Well done to all of you who have completed unit standards towards your qualification.

In this issue we remind you about the Careerforce Resource Library and how you'll need to login to iportal to continue to gain access. With iportal access you'll also be able to track your training progress at any time. Some of you have already registered on iportal and we hope you're finding this useful.

Plus, read about Nita Tapaatoutai, a true inspiration. She's an amazing trainee who has progressed from a Level 3 qualification, to an apprenticeship, and is now taking on a management degree.

We hope you're able to take time during the holiday season to relax, recharge and reconnect with the people that are important to you. Enjoy the holidays and we'll be in touch in 2022!

Meri Kirihimete from the Careerforce whānau to yours.

We appreciate that it can sometimes be difficult to stay motivated with your studies when you have other responsibilities and challenges in life.

In our last issue we advised that we would commence the sending out of quarterly emails to trainees to help you track your progress along your training journey. With each email, you'll receive a progress report, and gentle encouragement where necessary. These reports detail progress on the unit standards that form part of your training programme. This is now being progressively rolled out to trainees.

Those of you with no assessments reported after 90 days will receive an email notification to gently encourage you to make progress with your training. After a longer period of no activity, notifications will let learners know ahead of time that they may be placed on hold or withdrawn from their programme unless they complete some training activity. In these instances, please note that it is possible that you have been completing assessments that have not yet been marked or reported. If this is the case, please have a chat with your assessor.

We don't want you to miss out on these emails, as they'll show you how you're progressing. Occasionally emails may find their way to your spam folder and we ask that you check your spam or junk folder periodically to ensure you're not missing out.

The Careerforce Library has been transitioned from the Careerforce website to iportal, but looks and feels completely the same and contains the same resources. Once logged into iportal, you can click on the 'Careerforce Resource Library' button on the header ribbon and you'll have continued full access to our learning materials on the Library.

Setting up your secure login is straightforward. If you haven't already done so, we encourage you to do this promptly so that you are all set up for when you next want to access your training progress, or Careerforce learning resources.

Simply go to the iportal homepage here and click on 'Register a new account' We've also prepared a helpful user guide that provides detailed instructions.

Tongan care worker Uinita (Nita) Tapaatoutai is a hard worker and a true inspiration to others. She has seized the opportunities to upskill and support her community.

Nita balances two work roles, her community healthcare work commitments and mentoring her peers. She is a role model for her five children, and still has a determination to grow and succeed, now taking on a Management degree. With a Level 3 New Zealand Certificate in Health and Wellbeing under her belt, the Oamaru Hospital worker has now completed a Level 4 Apprenticeship in Community Facilitation with support from Careerforce. You can read more about Nita.

At the outset of your training journey, you signed a training agreement which forms the foundation for your training. This is an agreement between yourself, your employer and Careerforce. Within this agreement, there is a signed declaration where all learners are agreeing to achieve at least 10 credits per calendar year.

We currently have a number of trainees who have not completed 10 credits of activity this calendar year. If this is you, this is a bit of a plea as we approach the end of 2021 to consider whether you are able to complete some unit standards and submit for assessment before 31 December. This will not only ensure progress towards your qualification, but also create a momentum you can carry into 2022.

Perhaps have a chat with a colleague, or your training manager or assessor to identify some unit standards that you can realistically complete.

Trainees who have not yet started the modules will be moved to the latest issue of the module(s) and those who have started must submit all assessment tasks for marking by Friday 10 December 2021.

Any trainee who hasn’t submitted tasks by Friday 10 December 2021 will be moved to the latest issue of the module(s). If a trainee has started the assessment on Aka Toi but will not be able to complete by 10 December, they can request a PDF of the work they have already completed (to help when starting the new version). Alternatively they can request to be transferred now. A message has been added to the modules as a prompt.

Answer 6 easy questions correctly by Tuesday 21 December 2021 to go into the draw to win 1 of 3 $50 grocery vouchers. Follow the link:
https://careerforce.research.net/r/TFGDec2021

Congratulations to the quiz winners from the previous newsletter.
1.     Hannah Walker, CCS Disability Action, Oamaru
2.     Tamara Mitchell, Oceania Healthcare, Upper Hutt
3.     Paula Pole, Spectrum Care, Auckland

We’ll contact the winners via email, so don’t forget to provide your email address at the end of the quiz and we’ll publish your names in our next newsletter.

Please note that Careerforce offices are closed for the holidays and staff are taking a wee break. Our offices close at midday on Thursday, 23 December, and re-open on Thursday, 6 January 2022.

Although Careerforce offices are closed at these times, you can still work on your assessments over the holidays and submit them to your assessor for marking.

The last certificates before the Christmas break will be sent out on 13 December. We will start sending them out again on 10 January 2022.